Olivier Bouygues gets suspended sentence and €750,000 fine over protected wildlife

A court in Orléans, France, sentenced businessman Olivier Bouygues to two years in prison, suspended, and fined him €750,000 for the destruction of protected wildlife.

The case involved his hunting estate in Sologne, in the Loiret area, where five other people, including estate staff and gamekeepers, were also convicted.

Investigators found dead protected birds and other animals, along with banned traps and records of animals targeted for killing.

The court found that the killings were organised and that Bouygues knew about and facilitated them, although he has denied knowing about the practices.

The judge also ordered the six defendants to pay a total of €360,000 to nine environmental groups for ecological harm, with about 70% of that amount assigned to Bouygues.

The ruling matters because it holds the estate owner responsible alongside those who carried out the killings.

Bouygues’s lawyer has said he will appeal, so the decision is not final.