A Montreal-area resident has been fined $ 20,000 for taking 45 fossils from three national parks in British Columbia and Alberta, including an internationally renowned fossil site.
Parks Canada said in a news release that rangers in the Lake Louise, Alberta area got a tip from a member of the public in 2020 about fossils being excavated from the Burgess Shale.
The summer and fall investigation resulted in a search warrant being obtained. Rangers from La Mauricie National Park and Quebec Waterways teamed up with Longueuil police to raid a private residence in the Montreal area.
Officials said the search recovered 45 fossils, identified by an expert from the Royal Ontario Museum that came from sites in Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay national parks.
Most of the fossils came from the Marble Canyon quarry, an area inaccessible to the public, in Kootenay National Park in British Columbia.
Highest fine to date
The individual, who was not identified by Parks Canada, pleaded guilty to two counts in a court in Cranbrook, British Columbia, on April 27.
He had to return the fossils and pay the fine. The offender also received a five -month suspended prison sentence with a curfew.
This is the largest fine to date for illegally removing fossils from the Burgess Shale. The high value demonstrates the seriousness of the offense and the great importance of fossiliferous depositsParks Canada said in a statement on Thursday.
The Burgess Shale is widely known as one of the most important fossil sites in the world. The area contains fossil evidence of some of the earliest animals to exist in the ocean over 505 million years ago and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.
The Marble Canyon quarry was discovered in 2012 and more than 10,000 specimens were recovered from this site by researchers.
Source: Radio-Canada
