Poaching: A case of illegal shooting of a red-listed maral has been identified in the Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve. On October 31, 2021, at approximately 18:30, employees of the Sary-Chelek Biosphere Reserve discovered a group of individuals at the "Tuur-Aryk" site who were butchering the carcass of a legally shot male maral, approximately five years old (determined by the traces on the skin).
The violators turned out to be four residents of the village of Arkyt in the Aksy district. During a personal search and a sweep of the area, no firearms were found. The skin, head, and carcass of the animal were seized as evidence. Currently, the materials regarding the illegal shooting of the red-listed animal are being transferred to law enforcement agencies for appropriate actions.
"It is good that the poachers have been detained," says ecological expert Gamal Soronkulov. "Our guys, representatives of the public, participated in their detention. Our team from the public association 'Eco Order' was timely on the scene. Usually, state inspectors cover up and hide facts of the crime, but they couldn't do that here. Sometimes they say, for example, that a wolf attacked, it fell from a cliff, or it was poisoned, but here it has been proven that the deer was indeed shot. Our guys are currently participating in this commission. The head, skin, and meat of the deer have been sealed. All of this must be submitted for analysis, and the Academy of Sciences will determine the species of the animal. The prosecutor's office is also involved in the case.
For reference: In June 2018, for the first time in the history of Kyrgyzstan, nine marals were relocated from the Naryn State Reserve to the forest sanctuary 'Baltyrkan' in the Aksy district of the Jalal-Abad region. The goal was to preserve and reproduce the maral and expand its habitat. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology, the maral is a rare animal in Kyrgyzstan and is listed in the Red Book. The maral (Noble or true deer) is a subspecies of the Holarctic species that has sharply decreased in numbers across its entire range in Central Asia. It is rare in Kyrgyzstan and is included in the Red Book. The fine for illegal hunting of a maral is 1 million soms, and in specially protected natural areas, the amount is doubled. The State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry reported in 2018 that there are 313 marals in the country.
Specially for the project: Ecological Map of Kyrgyzstan ecomap.kg
