Saisie record d'animaux sauvages massacrés en Russie : au moins 261 ours abattus ou mutilés !

Nous publions ci-dessous un article paru ce 14 juin 2011 sur le site du WWF de Russie (www.wwf.ru) dont nous avons eu connaissance par l'excellent blog d'Alain Sennepin, Europe Tigre :

http://europe-tigre.over-blog.com/

Signe des temps troublés qui sont les nôtres, la faune sauvage est la proie de prédateurs humains particulièrement avides. 

Saisie impressionnante réalisée en 2007 en Russie

extrême orientale (source : www.panda.org)

Il s'agit manifestement de la saisie d'animaux sauvages la plus importante dans la nouvelle Russie. Cette sordide marchandise était à destination de la Chine. On y a trouvé :

- 26 museaux d'élans (elk),

- 1041 pattes d'ours, correspondant à 261 individus tirés !,

- 5 défenses de mammouths (eh oui, même la faune disparue rapporte !),

- et 4 peaux de lynx.

En 2007, un trafic de même type avait concerné des peaux et autres parties de tigres de l'Amour et 480 pattes d'ours bruns et noirs. Le cliché ci-dessus illustre cette saisie, qui prenait aussi le chemin de la Chine.

Face à de tels massacres, on mesure l'extrême responsabilité qui repose, non seulement sur les gouvernements en cause, mais aussi sur les organisations qui défendent la nature.

"The attempt to smuggle the large shipment of derivatives was foiled by the officers of the Blagoveschensk Customs check point and canine inspection unit of the Blagoveschensk Customs Service during inspection of a truck returning to China from Russia.

According to the Customs Service press agency, notwithstanding the fact that the truck was empty, the officers noticed unusual behavior from a sniffer dog and the nervous demeanor of the driver, a citizen of China.It was decided to conduct a search with special mobile inspection equipment.

Scanning of the vehicle revealed that in front of the load box between the two walls was a secret room with hidden bags of wildlife derivatives. There were 26 moose snouts (65 kilograms), 1041 brown bear paws (1244,8 kg), 5 mammoth tusks (81,9 kg) and 4 lynx pelts.

The contraband goods were confiscated. At present time analysis of the goods and interrogation of the suspects are ongoing. A criminal case was initiated on the basis of Article 188 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code (contraband goods). As WWF notes, despite the fact that brown bear and lynx are common game species in Russia, they are included in Appendix II of the CITES convention, which limits their commercial utilization outside of the country.

“The confiscated load of bear paws is one of the largest in the modern history of the Russians Customs Agency,” commented Sergei Aramilev, Species program coordinator at WWF Russia, Amur branch. - “The murder of a bear - such an enduing symbol of Russia - just for his paws and gallbladder is barbaric, a base crime. To make up such a load it was necessary to shoot, at a minimum, 261 bears! The mutilated remains of this bears were left to rot in the forest, constituting a source of infection and disease.”

As Sergei Aramilev notes, the paws and gallbladder of bears are purchased from hunters and poachers for a pittance, and then transported to China, where they are considered both a delicacy and a potent medicine.

“Recently, in very similar circumstances, another major smuggling channel was shut down, and both times it could not have occurred without the work of the Customs Service sniffer dogs, which is supported by WWF Russia in partnership with TRAFFIC,” said Sergey Aramilev, - “It is important to note that in Russia there is no special consideration for wildlife smuggling. The law only considers them as common goods, which makes it all the more difficult to reveal such violations. If measures are not taken to amend the legislation, the great efforts taken to investigate such crimes could be in vain.”