Don Jr. Under Investigation for Alleged Illegal Duck Hunt in Italy

Prosecutors are investigating whether Donald Trump Jr. illegally hunted a protected duck during a trip to the Venice lagoon last December.

Earlier this month, a local hunting lifestyle company called Field Ethos released a video online of Trump’s trip that showed him shooting waterfowl in a special conservation area of the lagoon, Veneto regional councillor Andrea Zanoni previously wrote on Facebook.

At one point, Trump addresses the camera surrounded by dead waterfowl—including the protected ruddy shelduck, which has distinctive bright orange feathers.

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Zanoni and several animal rights groups filed criminal complaints—called a denuncia—with the forest police accusing Trump of hunting without a license and killing the protected bird, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Now, the Venice prosecutor’s office is investigating the incident to determine who shot down the duck in question and whether the group respected regional hunting laws, according to numerous Italian press reports.

Foreigners hunting in Italy need several additional documents besides a hunting license, including a consular declaration and insurance policy, Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano reported.

The regional hunting administrator previously said all rules and procedures had been followed, but the region announced it would open a police investigation to be sure, according to La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre.

A spokesperson for Trump had also previously told the AP it wasn’t clear whether the duck was “unintentionally shot by someone in Don’s hunting group, another hunting group or killed in a different manner and retrieved by the group’s hunting dog.”

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“Don takes following all rules, regulations and conservation on his hunts very seriously and plans on fully cooperating with any investigation,” spokesman Andy Surabian said in a statement when the incident was first revealed.

The criminal code, however, prohibits not just killing the protected species but keeping the dead animal, according to Il Fatto.

Anyone who “kills, captures or holds specimens belonging to a protected wild animal species” can be sentenced to one to six months in prison and fined up to 4,000 euros ($4,175), according to the relevant section.