Is is not subject to investigation?
The Bison Hunt
By Yelena Tribuleva, "Vecherniy Brest" (The Evening Brest) newspaper, February 10, 2010
Rifle shots have been thundering across the protected compartments of Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
A new controversy has been brewing around the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park. The Svisloch District, Grodno Region prosecutor’s office has begun an inquiry into the illegal shooting of a bison cow in the Yazvinskoe forestry. The killing of the protected animal was not part of what has been recently seen as a regular poaching pattern. Svisloch district Councilor Vladimir Zhukov, there is every reason to believe the rare animal fell prey to a bay hunt arranged specially for visiting foreigners.
The residents of Svisloch District and, say, Kamenets District, have equal right to refer to their lands as belonging to Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Svisloch District occupies one-third of the national park’s territory. The park is home to many large and small villages where the local way of life is affected by the proximity of the forest in that way or another. The village of Dobrovolya, for example, had to enclose itself with a fence last year to keep their gardens safe from wild boars. The locals know everything that is going in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, but they will not tell just everybody about it. They did tell Vladimir Zhukov, though – possibly because he is seen as one of their own: Zhukov was elected to the Svisloch District council by the Dobrovolya constituency, while he visits his farm in the little village of Rudnya far more frequently than Svisloch. So here is what he was told. On November 15, Belovezhskaya Pushcha’s Compartment 171 became a stage for a bay hunt, specially arranged for foreign visitors and involving a large number of national parks employees. The bison cow was among the several ungulates killed in the hunt.
Just to explain, Compartment 171 is a protected area where even breaking a branch, let alone hunting, requires special permission. “At first I was doubtful,” Zhukov said. “I though the people might’ve confused things. Besides, it was ten days after the hunt by the time I'd learnt about it. But you had to believe it.” Early on November 30, Vladimir and a district nature protection employee undertook a “sortie” across the turnpike into Compartment 171. An hour later, the thick of the forest revealed the carefully concealed burial of a large animal’s entrails. Experts would later confirm the remains belonged to a female bison. The task force dispatched to the site seized the evidence and an inquiry kicked off.
There is hardly any official information available on the case. Unofficial sources say the hunt was specially arranged for foreigners but the cow was most probably shot down by mistake. Bison hunting is an expensive sport that few can afford. The license for killing the giant animal in this country costs 2,500 Euro to 8,000 Euro. A “medal” bull is valued at 12,000 Euro to 20,000 Euro. In general, bison hunting is prohibited in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, and these giant animals are not shot unless it is required for population control. The killing of the bison cow must have been a clear blunder by one of the hunters, which the management then attempted to conceal. A German hunter had to pay 70,000 Euro last December for accidentally shooting down a bison calf in the Svislochkoe forestry. In this later case, the entrails were simply buried. Was that done simply to avoid bad publicity?
The accused in the case is Yazvinskoe forestry, but it is clear as day the forestry’s staff are just small fry. The investigation has been trudging alone, primarily because of resistance from the Belovezhskaya Pushcha management. Just recently, the Grodno regional investigator in charge of the case had to wait for several hours at the turnpike despite having every necessary permit to enter. Despite all that, Vladimir Zhukov is confident the case will not just see trial but all those responsible will pay their deserts. “They won’t be able to burke that case,” he says.
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