site.btaBourgas Court Sentences Briton for Rare Egg Thieving

ESD 17:20:00 22-10-2014
DD1719ES.121
121 BOURGAS - COURT - BRITON - EGG THIEF

Bourgas Court Sentences Briton
for Rare Egg
Thieving


Bourgas, on the Black Sea, October 22 (BTA) - The Bourgas Court
has ruled a six-month conditional sentence and a three-year
probation period for Briton Jan Ross for stealing eggs from the
nests of protected species, the court said Wednesday. The
decision was reached after an agreement with the district
prosecution office and the defendant.

Ross was accused of two crimes: one under the Protected
Territories Act (for destroying the eggs of protected species,
including the common kingfisher, the ortolan bunting, the
collared pratincole, and the Eurasian blackcap, as well as
stuffed protected species including sparrowhawk and common
buzzard). He was also charged with retaining eggs of a species
under special protection regime - the griffon vulture. This is
an exceedingly rare bird species, which was on the brink of
extinction, and after years of efforts on the part of
conservationists in Bulgaria today there are 60 pairs, the
Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds said.

Following the out-of-court settlement, Ross will also have to
pay a 5,000-lev fine.

The collection of eggs of rare species is not well-known in
Bulgaria but was popular until recently in Great Britain. The
hobby, resulting in collections of thousands of items, has
brought some emblematic birds like the falcon, for example, on
the brink of extinction from the wild.

The operation to reveal the British collector was conducted with
the cooperation of the British police, Interpol, the Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Bulgarian
Society for the Protection of Birds.

Jan Ross was previously sentenced for similar crimes in Great
Britain and Scotland.

This is the first court case of its kind in Bulgaria. There have
been cases for bird and reptile trafficking in violation of
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), but there has not been an
effective sentence for such crimes in Bulgaria to date, the
Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds commented./BR



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