Bullfight advocates working with young people to attract new followers in Mexico

Bullfighting is under siege in many parts of Mexico, and some of its biggest supporters are responding by looking to draw in new fans, particularly younger ones

ACULCO, Mexico -- The corral gate swings open and an energetic calf charges in, only to be wrestled stuggling to the ground and immobilized by having its legs tied. The men go to work vaccinating the calf and marking its number with a burning iron on its back.

It happened in one of the sessions of a workshop that José Arturo Jiménez gave this past week at his ranch in Aculco, a town in the State of Mexico near Mexico City, attended by about 40 university students and others.

The event was part of an initiative by the Mexican Association of Bullfighting to attract new followers for the centries-old tradition of bullfighting by educating young people about the different activities that surround the breeding of fighting bulls.

The association is trying to counter the growing global movement driven by animal defenders who seek to abolish bullfighting, which they consider torture of bulls.

Although bullfighting is still allowed in much of Mexico, it is suspended in some states, such as Sinaloa, Guerrero, Coahuila and Quintana Roo. There is also a legal fight in Mexico City that threatens the future of the capital's Plaza Mexico, the largest bullfighting arena in the world.