[FOX] At least seven people have been charged in an "elaborate" flying squirrel trafficking scheme in which poachers in Florida caught thousands of the rodents before selling them to buyers in Asia, officials said on Monday.Poachers are accused of illegally catching more than 3,500 flying squirrels, a protected species in Florida, over a three-year period, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
They allegedly set up to 10,000 traps in trees around the rural area of Marion County, Fla., located about 80 miles northwest of Orlando, before the rodents were sold to a wildlife dealer in Bushnell -- who resold them as captive-bred pets -- not wildlife.