When rangers at Yala National Park saw that Luigi Ferrari, 68, and his son Mattia, 28, were carrying jars containing the insects, they were taken into custody on May 8.
According to investigations, the males had used animal attractants to entice the insects, and they intended to chemically preserve them using wax sachets.
Early in September, they were found guilty of unlawfully gathering, possessing, and transporting the insects. As a result, they received the largest fine ever imposed for wildlife crime in the history of the nation.
According to K. Sujeewa Nishantha, a park ranger, a safari jeep driver had alerted his group of rangers about a “suspicious car” parked along the road on the day of the event. The driver said the two guys inside had entered the forest using bug nets.
The rangers located the automobile and found hundreds of jars with the insects in its trunk.
“When we discovered the insects, they were all dead. “They filled the bottles with a chemical,” Mr. Nishantha stated. “There were more than three hundred animals.”
The 810 counts that were originally levied against the guys were eventually lowered to 304. If they don’t pay the fee, they risk spending two years in prison.
