French billionaire Olivier Bouygues, son of the founder of the Bouygues group, was taken into police custody on Wednesday, suspected of illegally hunting protected bird species on his estate in Sologne, north-central France.
Three other individuals have also been detained, while a fifth person was questioned freely, Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren, Public Prosecutor of Orléans, told French news agency AFP.
The prosecution is expected to announce its decision regarding legal proceedings on Thursday, the magistrate added.
In early June, officers from the French Biodiversity Office (OFB) and gendarmes discovered dead protected birds, including cormorants, buzzards, and egrets, during a search of Bouygues’ estate in Fontenaille village.
Investigators quoted by the regional television network, France 3 Centre-Val de Loire, suspect a “systematic destruction over several years” of these species.
These birds are believed to have been killed because they posed a threat to the partridges and pheasants hunted on the estate.
Authorities also found a hunting enclosure with a potentially excessive density of wild boars, suggesting it could be an illegal breeding operation, according to France 3.
Olivier Bouygues, a board member of the Bouygues company, was not present during the search, a source close to the investigation reported.
