Dogs Climb Up Steps of World-Famous El Castillo Mayan Pyramid

Two dogs were seen ascending the stairs of the protected Mayan monument known as El Castillo, or Pyramid of Kukulcan, at the archeological site of Chichen-Itza in Yucatan, Mexico, on January 21. Footage recorded by Emily Mullender shows the unattended dogs bounding up and nearing the top of the 91 steps of the pyramid. Mullender told Storyful that the dogs "both disappeared inside the temple from the top of the stairs and didn’t reappear for a while. “There was a couple shouting in Spanish at one point but [I] couldn’t tell if they were the clear owners,” Mullender said. “The dogs looked quite well-kept so didn’t look like the underfed strays we saw everywhere else.” A local news report regarding a similar incident said that “pets are not allowed at archaeological sites in Mexico.” In December 2021, it was reported that state authorities would be working on clearing the stray dogs at Chichen-Itza. Credit: Emily Mullender via Storyful