Tortoise smuggler ordered to pay €100,000 damages

A man caught smuggling 334 protected tortoises from Morocco to Belgium has been jailed for nine months and ordered to pay €100,000 in damages.

The brightly coloured spur-thighed tortoises were found last year - and since then none of them has survived. "They caught various infections during transport and died after a few months," said Belgium's federal public service for public health in a statement.

The smuggler was found guilty of introducing a species into the EU protected by Cites - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

He was also found guilty of transporting with a view to selling animals without the necessary authorisations and certificates, and endangering their well-being by failing to provide a living environment that meets their natural needs.

As well as a nine-month jail sentence, he was ordered to pay €15,000 to the Cites enforcement service and €85,000 to the association SOS Reptiles, which had registered as a third-party claimant in the case.