Italian tourists fined $200,000 for insect theft in Sri Lanka

Tourists often choose trips to safari parks as an attraction. Watching exotic animals in their natural environment is an interesting change from zoos, where representatives of different species are kept in small enclosures. Usually, the only souvenirs from trips are photographs or accessories from souvenir shops. Sometimes, tourists choose more unusual artifacts.

On May 8, 2024, two men were detained in Yala National Park in Sri Lanka. Sixty-eight-year-old Luigi Ferrari and his twenty-eight-year-old son Mattia attempted to fill jars with exotic insects. The Italians lured the insects using special animal bait. They then planned to preserve the captured specimens using wax sachets chemically.

Yala National Park rangers detained the suspected men. When the officers acted, the Italians had jars in their hands and were catching the insects. Earlier that same day, rangers were informed by a safari jeep driver about a suspicious car parked on the road leading to Yala National Park. Men with insect nets exited the vehicle and headed toward the trees.

The rangers reached the suspicious car. Upon opening the trunk, the officers faced hundreds of jars filled with insects. K. Sujeewa Nishantha, a park ranger, said in an interview with "BBC Sinhala": “All the insects were dead when we found them. They put a chemical in the bottles. There were more than three hundred animals.”

Luigi Ferrari and Mattia Ferrari were initially charged with committing 810 crimes. Eventually, this number was reduced to 304. The court imposed a monetary penalty of CAD 200,000 on the men. If the Italians do not pay the fine by September 24, 2024, they face a two-year prison sentence.