Three men were caught stealing eider eggs from a nesting site at Stafnes near Sandgerði on Reykjanes Peninsula earlier this week, Vísir reports.
This was announced by the local police, who elaborated that the person who reported the men in question saw all three of them walking near the eider nests with plastic bags.
The announcement reads, “He talked to them and they claimed they were only taking pictures, strongly denying they had been taking eggs. Nevertheless, three plastic bags with a total of 135 eggs, which were still lukewarm, were found near their car. The local police brought the men to the station, where they were found guilty of infringing regulations protecting certain wild birds and their nesting sites.”
The common eider (Somateria mollissima) has been a protected species in Iceland since 1847, and use of eiderdown and legal eider farming are a culturally rich part of Iceland’s heritage, according to the Eider Farming Association of Iceland’s website.
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