ITAR-TASS, Russia
Sept 25 2004

Armenia allows hunting for Red Data Book animals to entice hunters

YEREVAN, September 25 (Itar-Tass) – Armenia has allowed
unprofessional hunters to shoot wild animals listed in the
international Red Data Book, Head of the Armenian environmental
ministry’s agency for biological resources Artashes Ziroyan said.

He noted that the government had decided to set a part 2.4 thousand
hectares of land in the Vaiots Dzor region and 459 hectares in the
Syunic region in the republic’s southeastern area for the
Armenian-Italian company `Safari international’.

The company will organize hunting for wild goats, bears and Asiatic
moufflons in the assigned areas.

According to Ziroyan, the Red Data Book will not be an impediment to
the project because hunting will be allowed only for male moufflons,
bezoar goats and bears which are older than eight years and are no
longer capable of reproducing the species.

Ziroyan also said that there are quotas: permission will be issued to
shoot up to five goats and moufflons and no more than two bears each
hunting season.

Ziroyan, who earlier headed the Armenian Academy of Sciences’
Institute of Zoology is convinced that `the hunting will produce
profits.’ According to him, `the pricing process is now in progress’,
and the environmental ministry hopes to get no less than 500 dollars
per each killed animal.

Efforts will be made to secure the restoration of the population of
the animals in the Red Data Book, and the joint Armenian-Italian
program will help encourage environmental and hunting tourism in
Armenia.

However, Karen Manvelyan, director of the Yerevan office of the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the Caucasus does not agree with Artashes
Ziroyan. According to him, bears can live for 25 years and the old
males continue to lead goat families. Their extermination will not be
without negative consequences.