Environmentalists vetoed hunting in the hunting grounds of the Shumilino structure of the Belarusian Society of Hunters and Fishermen

March 26, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Ecologists have suspended all types of hunting in the Shumilino district structure of the republican state-public association "Belarusian Society of Hunters and Fishermen," Vasily Kirpichenok, deputy head of the Vitebsk Regional Committee for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, told a BELTA correspondent. The hunting ban has been imposed due to the absence of a hunting management project and the expiration of the biological and economic justification. The regional inspectorate for the protection of fauna and flora and local authorities have been notified of the ecologists' sanctions. Control counts of the number of game animals conducted this year by the regional forestry association on behalf of the Ministry of Forestry showed a decrease in the number of ungulates and an increase in the wolf population in three hunting grounds of the Shumilino district structure of the BOHF. According to Vasily Kirpichenok, the biological and economic justification for the Orsha and Vitebsk structures of the BOHF is nearing expiration. If the necessary documents are not submitted to the regional committee for natural resources and environmental protection, similar measures will be applied to these organizations. According to the results of last year's accounting work, the number of main game species in the Vitebsk region was: elk - 7,908 individuals, deer - 1,138 individuals, wild boar - 17,581 individuals, roe deer - 12,861 individuals. The number of animals of undesirable species was: wolf - 203 individuals, fox - 6,673 individuals, and raccoon dog - 5,297 individuals, included in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus: badger - 851 individuals, bear - 107 individuals, and lynx - 330 individuals. The committee assumes that there will be no significant decrease in the number of wild animals based on the results of the 2012 accounting work, as this year's winter period was more favorable than the previous one. -0-