Hunting of ibex — Siberian mountain goat was banned in Altai

The authorities of the Republic of Altai have introduced a three-year moratorium on the hunting of ibex, the Siberian mountain goat. It is reported by the NIA “Ecology” with reference to the regional government.

The decision to ban the hunting of ibexes was taken based on the results of a survey of residents of three districts of the republic, where these animals are most often found.

Although the Altaians came out for the protection of mountain goats, in fact, the hunting of animals continued. Now hunting for them is officially prohibited.

Vladimir Burmatov, First Deputy Chairman of the RF State Duma Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environment Protection, commented on the introduction of a moratorium on ibex hunting, noting that the regional authorities had been inactive for too long.

The parliamentarian was supported by environmentalists and activists. They also called for Siberian ibex to be included in the Red Book.

According to conservationists, the ibex population has more than halved in the past six years and now stands at 3,761.

Now the Siberian ibex has been awarded the status of a species with a declining population.

The popularity of ibex hunting is due to many factors. The fact is that local residents have long been using goat meat for food (the weight of one adult can be 150 kg). Ibex fur is thick, suitable for sewing winter outerwear, as well as elements of the national costume of the Altaians and other peoples living in the area of settlement of this species of artiodactyls (mountains of Mongolia, Afghanistan, Northwestern China and India, in Russia the species is common in the Tien Shan mountains , Pamir, Altai, Tarbagatai and Sayan). The horns of the mountain goat in males are massive, up to 170 cm, saber-shaped, have tubercles on the front side, slightly diverge to the sides. Females are 3–5 times shorter. Horns are valued by poachers and hunters, as they are used to create household items and national decorations. Many people buy antlers for home decor.

It is worth noting that many individuals of ibexes, like other wild animals, die as a result of trophy hunting — that is, not for food, but for fun and the extraction of unusual animal body parts — horns, hooves or fur.

Last year, the issue of curbing ibex hunting in Altai was massively raised online after the posting of photographs of a trophy hunt by a Moscow blogger on social networks.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the head of the Altai Republic, Oleg Khorokhordin, contributed to the adoption of the moratorium on hunting the Siberian ibex. As Natalya Trofimova, Director of the WWF Representative Office in the Altai-Sayan Ecoregion, noted, the moratorium was introduced not only because of the decline in the number of ibexes, but also because these animals play an important role in the natural food chain, being the main food of the rarest snow leopard.

Cover photo: Wikimedia Commons