Toulouse: a man sentenced for a major trafficking of butterflies including rare and protected species
In mid-April, a man was sentenced by the Toulouse court for trafficking in protected butterflies. The defendant captured these insects in particular in the Pyrenees and then resold them on the internet.
Three months suspended prison sentence and 500 euros in damages. Several weeks of investigation by inspectors from the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) have identified a man suspected of trafficking butterflies for sale.
The environmental police have scrutinized several advertisements concerning the sale of butterflies on the internet. Thanks to these delicate investigations, they traced the trail of a suspect, specializing in insects. The interested party had specialized mainly in Lepidoptera which he captured from the Pyrenees to the Alps in order to market them. A search was carried out by OFB environmental inspectors at his home. During this search, different species were proven, the Apollon butterfly in regression in our mountains, the Damier de la Succise, the Isabelle, or even a specimen of the recently recorded Magicienne Dentée, the only French orthopter on the list of species. of the European Habitats Directive. “Some of these species of butterflies are native or even endemic to our mountain ranges. Thanks to the notebooks he held, environmental inspectors were able to locate the places of capture”, specifies the French Office for Biodiversity.
917 insect specimens
In total, during the search of the home, the police got their hands on 74 specimens of 11 species of protected butterflies. In addition, the investigation made it possible to conclude that in the space of 3 years, 917 specimens of insects, including 115 concerning protected species, had been sold in 11 different countries.
This man was tried on April 13 by the Toulouse court. He was sentenced to a three-month suspended prison sentence and the confiscation of seals. These seals will be given to the Natural History Museum of Toulouse. The court also awarded 500 euros in damages to the association France Nature Environnement Midi-Pyrénées.