Animal Protection Initiative

Author: Viktoras Dubinskas (Lithuania)
Author: Viktoras Dubinskas (Lithuania)

During the meeting at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation it was decided to launch a campaign to fight illegal wildlife trade on the Internet. Currently, national and international laws prohibiting illegal trade lag behind the development of illegal operations on the Internet. 

The Minister instructed to develop a package of measures, which implies changes in Article 258.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "On illegal prey and traffic of valuable wildlife and aquatic biological resources belonging to the species listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and (or) protected by international treaties of the Russian Federation, adding regulations relating to trade on the Internet".

It is planned to amend Federal Law № 149 "On Information, Information Technologies and Protection of Information" and other acts of the Government of Russia, providing liability for fauna traffic in social networks. 

26.02.2014_igor_shpilenok_na_vodopoe_0.jpg

The saiga belongs to the category of endangered species since 2002. Photo: Igor Shpilenok
The saiga belongs to the category of endangered species since 2002. Photo: Igor Shpilenok

 

"As a rule, animals offered for illegal sale are kept in inappropriate conditions and that leads to diseases and death, - said Deputy Head of the Ministry of Natural Resources Rinat Gizatulin. - It is important not only to prevent illegal sale, but also save lives of these animals - the important part of global biodiversity ". 

According to the environmental NGOs such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and TRAFFIC, as well as information from citizens, there are numerous offers for sale of a variety species listed in the Red Book of Russia and Annexes I and II of international CITES on Russian websites. According to the studies of tiger derivatives trade on Russian websites, conducted by IFAW in 2013, there were 24 offers for sale and 4 - for purchase. 

Goods made ​​of bodies and derivatives of tigers, elephants, bears and rhinos, are usually advertised as "artifacts" with no supporting documents. Animals caught in the wild are sold as captive-bred. To hide illegal information, criminals use a special coded language - abbreviations, acronyms, symbols encryption. 

One of the reasons for the wide dissemination of online trading of protected and endangered species of wild animals and goods made of them is the lack of continuous monitoring of trading platforms on the Internet. 

The Head of the Ministry of Natural Resources expressed confidence that the public will take part in problem-solving of illegal traffic of wildlife on the Internet.