-I plan on really cleaning house on Rocky Mountain
butterflies next year. Am bringing 20,000 envelopes and I expect to
fill them all up!” wrote one of three men indicted in a large
butterfly poaching ring. All allegedly traded and poached
butterflies between 1983 and 1992, from such places as Grand Canyon
and Yosemite. An undercover agent exposed the wide-scale thefts
after one man allegedly sold a pair of rare Kaibab swallowtail
butterflies for $400. A search of the collectors’ homes is said to
have turned up the world’s largest known collection of Kaibab
swallowtail butterflies and Oregon silverspots, which are protected
under the Endangered Species Act, plus letters from far-flung
collectors. According to authorities, 210 butterflies listed as
endangered were taken or traded for money. Included in the indicted
men’s letters were trapping suggestions and tips to evade detection
by park rangers. “Myself, I use the BioQuip pocket net – known as
the “National Park Special” for these tricky spots…” “I find late
afternoon or early mornings when few people are around best for
collecting – Just say you’re a botanist.” Charged with felony and
conspiracy in the case were Richard Skalski of Redwood City,
Calif., Thomas Kral of Tucson, Ariz., and Marc Grinnell of Santa
Rosa, Calif. A trial is scheduled Oct. 3 in San Jose, Calif. If
convicted, each defendant could receive five years in prison and a
$250,000 fine.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Lepidopterist poaching ring netted.
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