KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — A judge in Trinidad & Tobago has aggrieved conservationists by dismissing charges against a couple who were found with 55 protected animals caged at their home amid a no-trapping, no-hunting moratorium in the Caribbean nation.

In dropping the case, Senior Magistrate Lucina Cardenas Ragoonanan ordered authorities to return the seized birds, turtles and a monkey to the couple in central Freeport, but told forestry officials to periodically inspect the animals. The judge reprimanded the wife after she pleaded guilty to dozens of charges, but then dismissed those charges, officials said Thursday. The husband, a retired police officer, had pleaded not guilty.