An Argentine farmer has been sentenced to three years in prison for animal cruelty after being found guilty of killing over 100 Patagonian penguin chicks.
The sentencing took place on Wednesday, with the likelihood that the sentence will be commuted. The conviction stems from actions taken by the farmer in 2021, when he destroyed dozens of penguin nests while clearing land near the Punta Tumbo nature reserve in the southern province of Chubut.
This reserve is home to one of the largest colonies of Magellanic penguins on the Atlantic coast.
The farmer, a sheep rancher, argued that he was forced to clear the land due to the state's failure to create proper access routes to his property and establish boundaries between his farm and the nature reserve. Despite his defense, the court found him guilty of the destruction, and environmental group Greenpeace, which filed the complaint, welcomed the decision as a significant step toward environmental justice.
While the court sentenced the farmer to three years in prison, the Argentine penal code suggests that individuals with no prior criminal record may receive alternatives to incarceration for sentences of three years or less. Prosecutors had originally requested a four-year sentence.
The Magellanic penguin, which is considered a species of "least concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is currently not at risk of extinction, although its population is in decline due to various environmental pressures.
