Court convicts man for shelter and capercaillie shooting in reserves

A man has been given a suspended prison sentence for building an unauthorised shelter in Urho Kekkonen National Park and shooting a capercaillie in Sompio Strict Nature Reserve, Yle reports. The offences took place between 2022 and 2024.

Lapland District Court sentenced the man, born in 1983, to 30 days’ imprisonment, suspended. It also ordered him to forfeit the Baikal combination gun used in the offences and pay the state 170 euros for the value of the capercaillie. The ruling is not yet final and can be appealed.

The shelter was made from tarpaulins, wood and turf. Prosecutors said the man had repeatedly stayed there with his two dogs. He denied building it and said someone else must have made it. The court rejected his account, citing a video in which he had presented plans for a similar structure, as well as his belongings at the shelter.

The man admitted shooting the capercaillie but said he had done so in the national park, where he had the right to hunt as a local resident. The court found that the bird had been shot in Sompio Strict Nature Reserve, where hunting is prohibited. It used footage from the man’s videos and photographs of the reserve to identify the location. The videos also showed him hunting there on several days.

The court said the man must have known the reserve’s boundaries from the GPS devices he used and his frequent presence in the area. It found that the offences were intentional. The shooting location was close to the shelter, and Sompio Strict Nature Reserve lies beside the national park.