Danes collecting threatened butterflies

Danes detained in Norway with rare butterflies

Vejle amts folkeblad, Denmark - August 01, 2019

(article translated into English)

Two Danish men has been arrested in the southern Norway with 35-40 rare and endangered Apollo butterflies.

Tv2 says.

The local police in the Gjendebu area near Jotunheimen were tipped off that two Danes were walking the mountains catching rare butterflies. It turned out to be right the men were in possession of 35-40 Apollo butterflies.

Norwegian police confirmed TV2 that two Danish men have been questioned. They are no longer in police custody, but can expect some sort of criminal aftermath.

It is not known what the Danish men intended to do with the captured butterflies, but exactly this Norwegian subspecies of the Apollo butterfly is extremely rare.

This is stated by senior biologist Thor Hjarsen from the WWF World Nature Fund.

- Capturing 35 to 40 of this rare type of butterfly indicates a more than ordinary interest in butterflies, he tells TV2.

In butterfly communities, everyone knows that this is a "very rare iconic and protected" species.

According to TV2, Thor Hjarsen has, through Norwegian butterfly enthusiasts, been told that collectors will pay up to DKK 1000 for a single apollo butterfly from Norway.

If the two men had traveled to Denmark with the butterflies, it would have triggered a hefty fine.

The species is on the Environmental Protection Agency's list of "animal and plant species of community importance that require strict protection", writes TV2.

The Apollo butterfly is also protected by the Washington Convention, which intends to prevent international trade in endangered animals and plants.