An Argentinian farmer has been sentenced to three years in prison for animal cruelty after being found guilty of killing more than 100 Patagonian penguin chicks.

The decision was made on Wednesday with the possibility of mitigating the sentence. The conviction stems from actions in which the farmer destroyed dozens of penguin nests while clearing land near the Punta Tumbo nature reserve in the southern province of Chubut in 2021.

This reserve is home to one of the largest colonies of Magellanic penguins on the Atlantic coast.

The farmer, a sheep farmer, argued that he was forced to clear the land because the state did not create suitable access roads to his property and did not establish boundaries between his farm and the nature reserve. Despite his plea, the court found him guilty of demolition, and Greenpeace, the environmental group that filed the complaint, welcomed the verdict as an important step towards environmental justice.

While the court sentenced the farmer to three years in prison, Argentina’s criminal code suggests that people with no prior criminal records may receive sentences of three years or less as an alternative to prison. Prosecutors had initially requested a four-year prison sentence.

Considered a species of “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Magellanic penguin is not currently in danger of extinction, although its population has declined due to various environmental pressures.