Their adorable snouts did not soften him. A poacher from Ibos, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, was sentenced in Bayonne this Tuesday, reports South West. He had become a specialist in recipes based on… hedgehogs. By offering advice on how to catch them and video recipes, broadcast on the social network Facebook, the poacher attracted the attention of the police.
Since the hedgehog is a protected species, the defendant was sentenced to six months in prison. He will also have to pay €6,900 to five environmental associations. During the hearing last June, the lawyer for the Hegalaldia wildlife care center said that the defendant was “a bit like the Philippe Etchebest of the traveling community.”
Unlike the famous chef, the poacher was however targeting protected species. While he boasted of having captured more than 200 of them in the year, the investigation made it possible to determine the hunting of 44 European hedgehogs. If the hedgehog is not endangered in France, its population seems to be declining in France, in particular because of intensive agriculture and road collisions.