Hunting for bear and lynx: the Ministry of Forestry commented on legislative innovations
Yesterday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree amending hunting rules and rules for managing hunting.
The First Deputy Minister of Forestry, Alexander Dragun, commented on the legislative innovations.
His statement is cited by BELTA .
How hunting rules have changed
As the deputy head of the Ministry of Agriculture explained, the decree allows hunting for lynx and bear.
According to Dragun, thanks to the measures taken by the state to protect these endangered species, their numbers have increased significantly: there are now more than a thousand bears, and almost 1.7 thousand lynxes.
In some regions, the deputy minister continued, there are road accidents involving these animals. Moreover, they have begun to enter populated areas.
We have already met in the vicinity of the city of Minsk, noted Dragun.
The National Academy of Sciences will determine the order of population management. Hunters with at least 3 years of hunting experience will be allowed to hunt lynx and bear.
This is due to the fact that these species are predators, the deputy minister explained.
Bear hunting will be permitted from July 1 to December 31. Hunting will only be permitted with rifled weapons and smoothbore weapons of at least 16 calibers, and only with bullet cartridges.
Lynx hunting will be permitted from October 1 to January 31. In addition to smoothbore weapons with bullet cartridges, buckshot can be used.
Dogs will be identified by the users of the hunting grounds.
The decree also defines a list of documents that must be drawn up in the event of an accident involving a lynx, bear, or wild horse.
In addition, the Ministry of Forestry is authorized to determine the list of cartridges (calibers) of rifled hunting weapons that are permitted to be used for hunting game animals depending on the species/age.
According to the deputy minister, this is due to the fact that new types of cartridges are appearing on the market.
It is impossible to change the decree every time. This norm is very complex, therefore these powers were excluded from the decree and transferred to the Ministry of Forestry, - explained the deputy head of the department.
The main provisions of the document come into force 6 months after official publication.
For reference
Hunting is the capture or extraction of wild animals and birds, usually for food, animal products, animal population control, or trophies.
