García Borboroglu, better known as “Popi”, is the current president of the Global Penguin Society (GPS), an NGO that protects and monitors penguins live via GPS, was recognized in 2024 with the Indianapolis Prize, an award equivalent to “Nobel Prize for Conservation”considered the main world distinction for animal conservation.
“It is the first time in Argentina that a case of this nature reaches an oral and public trial and on top of that he is found guilty of all the charges in which the Prosecutor’s Office accused him, both aggravated damage and animal cruelty, and it is very important because it also illuminates the need to have more legislation at the national level”stated the Conicet researcher.
The rancher accused of the slaughter of penguins in Punta Tombo was found guilty
The businessman La Regina was declared guilty by the court judges Carlos Richieri, Eve Ponce and Laura Martinithat next week they must define and communicate the sentence and the penalty.
On the first day of judicial debate, the rancher offered a reparatory proposal with the donation of 500 hectares to the State to “finish ordering the management of the penguin resource, among them, the session of the so-called Punta Clara.”
However, the attorney general Florencia Gomez and the two plaintiffs opposed the application of the suspension of trial to evidence and the proposal.
Penguins Punta Tombo electrified fence La Regina.jpg
Greenpeace
According to the judicial investigation, evidence and witness testimonies, the livestock producer The Regina used a backhoe to make a path parallel to the coast in the ranch Punta Claralocated north of the reserve Punta Tombo, without proper authorization, “which negatively impacted penguin nests during the breeding season.”
According to the complainants, it was an unprecedented massacre. “A hundred dead penguins, eggs and chicks and an estimated 175 nests destroyed was the result of the passage of heavy machinery over the colony, which also caused the clearing of native vegetation,” They warned.
Prosecutor Florencia Gómez: “I’m happy, I just made history”
The prosecutor Florencia Gomezkey in this unprecedented process for the Argentine Justice, considered that “action carried out with a backhoe machine produced a clearing of 2,049 square meters of flora and fauna, vegetation whose ownership does not correspond to the accused, but to the State, affecting unrecoverable areas in some parts, in addition to penguin nests, eggs and beaks during their reproductive stage.”
Prosecutor Florencia Gómez Chubut pinguinos.jpg
After the verdict in the penguin killing case, prosecutor Gómez – originally from Tres Arroyos – told the local radio station LU24: “I’m happy, I just made history. Not only because no environmental case had come to trial related to Ecocide, but because it is the conviction I was looking for to establish jurisprudence.”
“It took me a long time to investigate the incident. -continued the judicial official- because it was made in the middle of the peninsula and I had to work with satellite images”explained Gómez, who confirmed that on November 11 at 8:30 the sentencing hearing will be held, to find out what penalty the guilty party will have.
“The result was what I was looking for and what all my colleagues need to be able to advance in environmental research because I set a precedent,” he highlighted. “I will bring witnesses to prove why I want four years in prison, while the defense will not want an effective sentence, but he is already sentenced.”he remarked.
A call for more laws against environmental crimes
“Here in Argentina, environmental crimes are not in the Penal Code. There are many provinces, including Chubut, that have natural resources of incredible value on a global level and we do not have environmental prosecutors’ offices.”he warned Garcia Borborogludoctor in Biology.
According to the scientist, the important thing is that it was “proven in court” that everything reported was “real.” “Justice really saw in light of the evidence that the person was guilty of all these acts”he stressed.
“Popi” García Borboroglualso winner of the Rolex Award for his work in the research and conservation of these birds, he also stressed that the important thing is “to see how the penguins can have a benefit that exceeds the damage suffered by these colonies and also to value the resources we have in Argentina: “The fauna cannot be so defenseless and that anyone can do anything at this point in civilization.”.
For the specialist, in this case the Justice system ruled in an exemplary way. “There is still next week the hearing for the sentencing, where the penalty will be determined. The important thing is that this ruling was unanimous by three judges, it was not a single person. And this court, unanimously collegiate, declared guilty of all the charges in which he was accused by the Public Prosecutor’s Office,” remarked “Popi.”
How to watch the penguin migration live
This year and within the framework of its 15th anniversary, the foundation Global Penguin Society (GPS)led by “Popi” and his wife, the biologist Laura Marina Reyes, reiterated its commitment to protecting the world’s 18 penguin species through science, habitat protection and education. Therefore, thanks to the collaboration of various institutions and the financial support of the National Geographic SocietyGPS equipped 20 Magellanic penguins with satellite transmitters, allowing the monitoring of their winter migration from Patagonia to Brazil.
From World Penguin Day of last April 25, GPS invited the community to join this commemoration and visit their website, where they will be able to follow LIVE the migration of the penguins in real time and learn more about each individual, who were named after prominent personalities: Draw Martínez, Messi and Antonela, Taylor Swift, Leo Dicaprio, Freddy Mercury and Bizarrapamong others.
GPS monitoring penguins.jpg
Thus, for six months, state-of-the-art devices record in real time the journey of these birds along a journey of more than 6,000 kilometers. The data collected offers invaluable information about their migration patterns, behavior and the influence of the environment on their journey.
Source: Ambito
