There is nothing to regret: from August 1, 2021, it will be allowed to hunt the Red Book animals

Thanks to the amendments to the Law "On the Animal Kingdom" adopted at the end of last year, hunting for the Red Data Book animals will be allowed from August 1, 2021 - in "exceptional" cases.

Sergey Kron

Scientists showed the door

The Red Book is the name of the lists of rare and endangered species of plants and animals. It contains documentary data on the biology, distribution, reasons for the decline in the number and disappearance of certain species of representatives of the flora and fauna of Russia. Responsibility for the murder of an animal in the Red Data Book is immediately provided for by the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

It is no secret that the Red Book of the Russian Federation could not be updated for more than twenty years. They say it was not before that! The latest attempts to republish it have led to loud scandals.

In 2017, the Ministry of Nature of the Russian Federation decided to change the list of Russian Red Book animals. And contrary to the opinion of environmental organizations, scientists and even the Academy of Sciences, the Red Book does not include rare species that should be in it by law. Among them are the bandage, the carnivorous killer whale, the Himalayan bear, the reindeer and the gray goose.

The officials did not explain their decision in any way and did not even order research on the number of these animals. Indeed, according to the law, it is possible to remove a tiger or bear from the Red Book only if they are no longer on the verge of extinction, that is, when their numbers have recovered.

But the fact of the matter is, say the defenders of wildlife, the species of animals "thrown out" from the Red Book are objects of commercial hunting. Previously, scientists were mainly responsible for the changes in the Red Book, but now they were shown the door. All responsibility was shifted onto the shoulders of representatives of Rosokhotrybolovsoyuz. It was this organization that opposed the inclusion of certain animals in the Red Book.

In the fall of 2019, a new conflict broke out between officials and animal rights activists. The Ministry of Natural Resources has already radically revised the composition of the Commission on Rare and Endangered Animals, Plants and Mushrooms, excluding a number of reputable biologists from it, trying to replace them with “their own people”.

"I recall the scandal with the former deputy head of the presidential administration and now a trophy hunter Sergey Yastrzhembsky, who dreamed of becoming "his" member of the commission. Animal rights activists actively opposed him. How can a poacher and a preacher of trophy hunting be included in the commission?" - Sophia Rosenfeld, a researcher at the Russian Bird Ringing Center, was outraged.

Yastrzhembsky also turned out to be a passionate hunter who loves to upload photographs of his trophies to the network. Recently, for example, he showed off the skin of a polar bear killed in Canada. In Russia, hunting him is prohibited, but perhaps Sergei Vladimirovich just wanted to eliminate this "gap" in the law.

In April 2020, the new edition of the Red Book of the Russian Federation was nevertheless adopted.

The bighorn sheep remained intact

The leader of the Alliance for Animal Defenders Yuri Koretskikh told Novye Izvestua with indignation:

"Officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources, at the suggestion of the so-called "hunting lobby" in the State Duma, still continue to bend their line: they want to change the procedure for including and excluding animals from the Red Book of the Russian Federation. They insist on introducing a system of state monitoring of animals that need protection, and on the basis of only these data to make a decision on inclusion or exclusion of an animal species in the Red Book".

The department believes that the current system - the decision of the special commission - is controversial and dissociative.

State Duma deputy Vladislav Reznik suggested using the data of state monitoring. This is not his first initiative to “protect” endangered species. Previously, it was he who proposed to legalize trophy hunting for Red Data Book animals. Environmentalists and scientists fear that in this way officials, at the suggestion of a number of deputies, will be able to "juggle" data in order not to give the status of rare animals to animals interesting for hunting.

Reznik does not hide his love for hunting and, as you know, is a member of the leadership of the elite "Club of Mountain Hunters". In 2016, this club asked one of the deputy prime ministers of Russia in charge of environmental management to solicit five permits for hunting the Putorana bighorn sheep, listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. The official tried to support the club, but Rosprirodnadzor refused to issue permits.

How to get into the Red Book

Who and on the basis of what data previously compiled a list of species to be included in the Red Book?

To make this difficult decision, the authorized body in the field of nature protection (as a rule, these are the regional ministries of nature) until recently established a Commission on rare species of flora and fauna. It included representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources and scientific experts - leading scientists and specialists in different groups of living beings, who know well the territory for which the list is being drawn up - these are theriologists (specialists in mammals), ornithologists (specialists in birds), herpetologists (specialists in reptiles and amphibians) ), ichthyologists (specialists in cyclostomes and fish), entomologists (specialists in invertebrates), botanists as well as bryologists (specialists in bryophytes), algologists (specialists in algae), lichenologists (specialists in lichens), mycologists (specialists in fungi).

Each of these experts should have up-to-date information on "their" species - on new findings, general population dynamics, on emerging or eliminated threats to the species, on scientific news and discoveries. The collection of this information was carried out constantly, that is, scientific monitoring of the state of flora and fauna was included in order to maintain the Red Book.

In addition to the information that specialists received during field research, they received information about rare species from many other sources: from hunters, fishermen, mushroom pickers and simply observant people who are not indifferent to nature. Qualified experts also checked and analyzed this information.

All finds of rare species were recorded in a databank indicating the coordinates of the meeting place, a description of the biotope, date, author of the find, abundance, etc. The information accumulated over many years made it possible to draw conclusions about changes in the state of populations of rare species in the territory, and, consequently, about how what measures need to be taken to protect them.

"Now the hunting farms themselves will study and provide data on the number of hunting resources, which are directly interested in the fact that officially this number does not decrease. Indeed, the profit of these farms directly depends on the number of licenses sold for shooting wild animals. Therefore, there is every reason to believe that a certain kind of manipulation will occur on their part in order to show that the number of this or that species is not decreasing, and you can continue to hunt for it", - he warned. Yuri Koretskikh.

Poachers got it!

According to the well -known hunting biologist Valery Kuzenkov, even without the Red Book it is clear that there are fewer and fewer wild animals in Russia. For example, in Soviet times there were about 600 thousand saiga in Kalmykia, now there are 6-7 thousand left. Experts asked local officials how this happened. And they answered in all seriousness: the number of saiga has fallen ...due to solar flares! As they say, at least stand, at least fall.

"The Department of Hunting of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation bravo reports to the authorities in Moscow about the alleged increase in the number of wild animals. But such "growth" is observed only on paper due to falsification of credentials. This is happening all over the country in order to obtain more permits for hunting moose, deer, wild boars, bears and other animals”, - Valery Kuzenkov said in an interview with Novye Izvestia.

“Do you know”, - he said, - “that the state allocates only about 8 million rubles a year for the protection of the Red Data Book animals throughout the vast territory of Russia! We have a lot of money going into sports, health care - no one argues with that! But why aren't sufficient funds invested in nature conservation? Why is the State Duma adopting laws that make hunters into poachers? But in many countries, hunting has become a developed sector of the economy.

In Germany, for example, the country's hunting industry creates jobs, significantly increases not only domestic, but also foreign - inbound tourism, the industry receives orders for equipment for hunters. Hunting farms make sure that the animals are counted and not overshot. And there is no Red Book there!

The Red Book has been introduced only in Russia and in several other countries. There are species of animals that are simply prohibited or allowed to be hunted.

The Red Book of the Russian Federation is a kind of revision of the entire animal world of Russia, in order to identify those species that need protection, whether on the Kola Peninsula or in Siberia and Transbaikalia. It is primarily addressed to specialists - workers of nature conservation, agriculture, forestry and hunting, biologists and teachers. Of course, the Red Book should be of interest to everyone who loves their native nature. But the maximum effect from its existence will be achieved only if at the federal level or in the regions of the country all the necessary measures are taken to preserve the animals named in the Red Book.

"The extraction of animals from the Red Data Book may only be permitted for research purposes and under the strict control of the state. This will help scientists get a closer look at wildlife and do their best to restore rare populations. If a poacher has killed an animal in the Red Data Book, he must be criminally liable”, - said Valery Kuzenkov.

What to do with hunting grounds?

In Russia today there is no all-Russian hunting industry, Kuzenkov believes. In some regions, there are separate private or public hunting farms, where complete anarchy often reigns.

- There is a need to create a powerful security service in the field of nature protection for an early turning point in the poaching lawlessness. The Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, as you know, is engaged in the protection of wild animals and hunting on a leftover basis, and this is the result - poaching has swept the country. It is no secret that poaching is often carried out by officials of the highest rank, and only inspectors with a special status can fight this phenomenon. For example, in Belarus, the environmental inspectorate is directly subordinate to the president of the country.

Effective protection of wildlife objects is necessary and supported today by all law-abiding citizens of Russia, who are well aware that this is the main condition for restoring the number of all wild animals inhabiting the territory of the Russian Federation. By increasing their numbers, hunting them will automatically bring high income (development of hunting tourism, production of hunting and fishing tools and equipment necessary for this, sale of permits for the production of wild animals, etc.).

According to Valery Kuzenkov, it is also necessary to put things in order in nature protection zones. This is 12-13% of the total area of Russia. The time has come to return them to the functions for which they were created. As stated in the law, these zones have special environmental, scientific, cultural, aesthetic, recreational and health-improving significance. These plots have been completely or partially withdrawn from economic use by the decision of the authorities and belong to the objects of the national heritage.

In addition, it is necessary to give work to people living in the Far North and the Far East. After all, there hunting, fishing has always been the main occupation for most of the population. The proceeds from the sale of such products would constitute the main part of their livelihoods.

“These are the urgent steps needed to restore order in our national hunting sector. Frankly speaking, all these proposals have long been reported to me upstairs. In words, everyone understands everything, nod their heads, support me with both hands, and then... nothing happens”, - said Valery Kuzenkov.