The boy's joy and the young brocket deer

That rainy day marked the tenth day of the Jesus is Life School. The class asked João what he had for lunch at home. He responded by saying there was only brocket deer meat. And that his father killed an armadillo, a brocket deer, or even pacas every day. The teacher had taught her students about the environment and renewable natural resources.

Unexpectedly, the class responded, saying:

-That's cowardly of your father, killing the armadillos in the forest. The brocket deer's life is to live in the caatinga of our backlands. It's a crime to kill wild animals. I don't know why Ibama didn't catch João's father hunting?

The other student said:

-Ibama – the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources. Ricardo, almost all hunters are afraid of Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environmental Protection), yet they continue to carry large-caliber weapons and hunt.

At that moment, the teacher enters the classroom and listens to the students' complaints. She warns them that the government has a role in monitoring the possession of wild animals. Wildlife is of great importance in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem and is responsible for generating and creating environments. As we know and have seen on television, animal trafficking is an environmental crime. In fact, awareness and action to combat this crime are essential to protect biodiversity and preserve environmental balance and systems.

Curious, Antonio asks the teacher:

-Teacher, Antonio's father sells deciduous wood to the ceramics factory in his old truck. Is he committing a crime?

The teacher replies:

-Of course he's committing an environmental crime. Using an illegal 0.38-valve saw, they extract what little timber remains from the coconut plantations in truckloads of logs, which has a devastating impact on forest degradation and climate change. They lack Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) authorization to deforest the "Northern Amazon" area, nor do they have a Timber Transportation Permit, just like the ceramics company that buys the truck's cubic meters. His father will be inspected, fined, and will face criminal charges and the timber will be seized. The truth is that the legal entity is capable of managing timber.

In a moment, Guilherme asks the teacher:

-My father has been working for fifteen months in an illegal charcoal kiln in the middle of the forest, overseeing twenty-five charcoal kilns for a steel mill. Can my father be arrested?

The students' teacher responds:

-He can't be arrested because he's an employee. He doesn't have a formal employment contract and doesn't use IPI (Tax on Industrial Property) in his clandestine charcoal production, in addition to working illegally overtime. Logically, the investigation team must destroy the kilns. In fact, this company doesn't have the Forest Origin Document (DOF), required for handling native timber, and it also lacks documentation from the appropriate authorities to operate charcoal production. Those responsible and all personnel should be taken to the police station to be charged with environmental crimes.

Without saying anything, João left with his books in hand. His classmates, who were watching, simply stared at the boy's expression.

One afternoon, João woke up around two in the afternoon and spoke seriously with his father about hunting.

-Dad, why do you kill armadillos, pebas, pacas, jaguars, and catingueiros? Why, Dad? Look how many orphaned cubs you've left in the forest. Don't go today. I beg you.

Trying to explain, his father says:

-Even you want to teach me manners. The game already has an owner, I'm just going to get a brocket deer in the woods. I'll feed you all with the sale. This isn't a joke. You should be helping your mother crack the coconuts.

Unsatisfied with the answer, João says to his father:

-It's not fair to do this to wild animals. They're in their natural habitat. And you go into the dense forest, climb a tree, aim with a twenty-point gun, and kill the animal. Then you go out and sell it to others. That's not right, Dad.

-Let's stop this conversation. I'm fed up with this. I don't like it one bit. Go to sleep, it's better for you than to do nothing.

The next day at Jesus is Life School, some students say:

-João, we saw your father with two deer on his back. How mean! Ibama needs to know about this.

Annoyed, João replies:

-What's it to me? Yes, he killed at the request of his clients, your parents. Well, the money is safe in his pocket. Your parents ask him to kill the game. What's it to me? Don't insist that my father isn't a hunter. He doesn't hunt for a living.

The other student countered:

-Yes. Your father is a hunter and killer of wild animals, and besides being a seller, he's a criminal. Any day now he'll be arrested and convicted for killing the animals in the coca plantations.

João said angrily.

-I don't even care. He hunts because your parents ask him to kill the game they want. If you didn't show any willingness to buy, he wouldn't kill those animals. That way, he won't have anyone to sell to.

It wasn't long before Anselmo arrived in class with a young brocket deer. And the class couldn't forgive Anselmo's behavior with the wild animal.

-Go leave it in the forest, urgently. This animal doesn't belong in our habitat. Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environmental Protection) hasn't given you permission to take it to school or raise it at home.

Anselmo went to João's father's house and said:

-Let's go to the forest and release this animal.

João's father added:

-Boy! I gave it to you as a golden gift. Even though I killed this cub's mother and sold it to your father, who paid me a good price. And now you want to return it.

The boy, crying, said:

-Why, young man, did you give me this animal, killing your mother?

He replied with the following allegation:

-I gave this brocket deer to you as a gift. Because your father asked me to kill a deer for him, and for a good price. I targeted the female and killed her and her two young in the yellow ipê tree, eating the flowers. In the burst of my twenty, one of the young fled, and the other was lost, stunned, and mad in the forest for its dead mother.

The boy said, still crying:

-Don't tell me anymore. Let's go to the forest where you caught this animal?

-I won't do that, boy. Return it to the wild. That was a gift.

The boy, rubbing his eyes, threatened the hunter.

-If you don't come with me now, I'll talk to IBAMA about you and give them all the information.

Without delay, they headed to the Cocais Forest. The moment the boy released the brocket deer fawn, the novice ran through the forest, as if he were arriving home, and the boy filmed everything to show in class.

The hunter said:

-Are you okay, kid?

-I'm not okay. But please, never kill an animal in the forest again. It's a crime to kill wild animals. You can face a prison sentence of six months to a year and a fine for anyone who kills, pursues, hunts, captures, or uses wild animals, whether native or migratory, without proper authorization. Furthermore, the sentence can be increased by half if the crime is committed against a rare or endangered species.

João's father said:

-On second thought, I'll never do that to wild animals again. This whole situation is painful, very painful, and pitiful. Seeing a cub without its mother is priceless. Kid, I'm not an animal killer anymore. Believe me. Don't say anything to IBAMA. Don't say anything to IBAMA. Let's forget everything and live happily, protecting our wildlife in the lands of the coconut plantations.