Published since 07.2002
Published on April 04, 2008
TARGETED: HUNTING COMPANY IN CROSSHAIRS OF CONTROVERSY OVER BIRDS
- The recent revelation of an Italian-based hunting company operating in Armenia has raised concern among environmentalists that some species of birds here may become extinct if regulations are not imposed and followed. At Ararat Safari hunters are invited to visit Armenia for guided hunting trips. The company’s website had featured seasons, species and territories where hunters could find birds such as whistling teal, gray German duck, broad-beak duck, mallard, gray goose . . .” A report by the Union of Investigative Journalists (www.hetq.am) aroused attention and outcry from naturalists. Senior specialist of the “Birds of Armenia” project of the American University in Armenia Karen Aghababyan says that some of the mentioned bird species are registered in the Red Book of endangered species. (German duck, broad-beaked duck, gray goose.) “Besides these, hunters do not quite well recognize birds in field conditions and usually do not pay attention to the circumstance whether these birds are registered in the Red Book or not, since they are at a distance and appear solely as a type of duck. Therefore, they may accidentally kill birds registered both in Armenia’s Red Book and in the International Red Book,” Aghababyan says with concern. About 140 bird species, of which 29 are entered in Armenia’s Red Book and 28 more will be entered soon, are registered in the area of the Armash fish-breeding reservoir in the Ararat region (owned by the Ararat Safari company). According to spokesperson for Armenia’s Environment Ministry Artsrun Pepanyan, the ministry’s environmental inspection group made an inspection in Ararat Safari Co. “No fact was registered to show that there are Italian hunters who are hunting are there now.” “It was an occasion to clamp down on poaching on the minister’s orders, since there is no permission for hunting now,” Pepanyan says. It was stated on the website (closed since the controversy) of the Ararat Safari company (founded in 2005) that hunting and fishing tourism is available from August 15 to April 15. In reality, bird hunting in Armenia is permitted only in autumn and winter. The website also describes the hunting area – “a territory of about 6,000 hectares that is situated near the river Arax, in a zone where birds of passage have rest in March.” The head of the Ararat-Safari company Arsen Zadoyan says taking aim at his company is unfair, that they have not brought any hunters to Armenia. He says their company plans to start such a service later. “The hunting season of the company will start after August 20. The Italians will be arriving by four-member group and the hunting will last for four days. We have not yet decided the prices, but we will make the prices lower than in other countries so that we can encourage people,” he says. Commenting on the content of the website, Zadoyan said that some information placed on the page appeared there by mistake. “The website was made in Italy and they mentioned such birds that are registered in the Red Book in Armenia, but are not in the Book in Italy. Besides the terms mentioned were also wrong, that’s why we decided to shut the website.” Ovsanna Hovspeyan, who spread the statement about the hunting company, is now collecting signatures to present them to the Italian Embassy “asking it to make this person (the Italian who brings in tourists) stop his business and leave Armenia.” “I already have more than 500 signatures, but I want to apply to the embassy only after I have collected about 1,000,” Ovsanna says. Hayk Chalikyan, who has been engaged in hunting for several years and is a member of the Hunting Union of Armenia, was also alarmed by the reports about foreigners hunting birds registered in the Red Book in Armenia. “I talked to specialists of the Hunting Union and they said that in that territory (Ararat Safari) they leave out birds that they themselves grow and shoot at them, mainly duck, quail and partridge, they say everything is legal.” Chalikyan says that as a hunter he hears with displeasure that outside the hunting season there are some people that can do hunting: “It turns out that they kill my animal.” In order to engage in hunting in Armenia one has to have a few types of permission. First of all, hunting is permitted only by the decree of the Environment Ministry about the start of the hunting season, which happens in winter and autumn. According to ministry spokesperson Pepanyan, in reality Ararat Safari does not have a corresponding permit for bird hunting, but they easily solve this matter. “They sign contracts with a hunter who has this permit and use his permission to kill ducks. And that hunter or someone from among their employees accompany the Italians so that they do not kill birds that are registered in the Red Book,” the Ministry’s press secretary says.
- Sara Khojoyan
Headlines for April 04, 2008
EUROSPEAK: ARMENIA’S STATUS FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE CAUCAUSUS- CASPIAN COMMISSION
Sara Khojoyan
The latest internal political developments in Armenia are a test for relations with Europe, representatives of the Caucasus-Caspian Commission expressed an opinion during the Armenia-Europe 2008 conference ...FAILED TALKS?: SARGSYAN-ALIYEV MEETING NOT ON THE CARDS IN BUCHAREST
Aris Ghazinyan
A top-level meeting of Armenian and Azeri leaders is very unlikely to take place on the sidelines of the NATO summit due to start in Romania later this week, it transpired over the weekend. Before that, ...EUROPEAN DISPATCH: AGO GROUP BRINGS IN PROPOSALS TO DEFUSE TENSIONS
Aris Ghazinyan
Armenia’s parliament is set to consider proposals advanced by a Council of Europe delegation on ways to end the country’s current political crisis in the aftermath of the post-election developments. ...LET THE LEGAL BATTLE BEGIN: 13 COMMITTED FOR TRIAL, SOME OF THE REST GO ON HUNGER-STRIKE
Suren Musayelyan
Cases of at least 13 out of more than a hundred people currently remanded in custody on charges stemming from their different roles in the March 1 events have been sent to courts this week, the Prosecutor-General’s ...GENERAL UNDER SIEGE: MANVEL GRIGORYAN FIRED AS DEPUTY MOD FOR BREAKING RANKS
4
By his order signed April 2, President Robert Kocharyan relieved Lieutenant-General Manvel Grigoryan of his position of Deputy Minister of Defense, the presidential press service reported without elaborating. ...SPORT: UNBEATEN KING ARTHUR READY TO MEET “THE GHOST”
Suren Musayelyan
Boxing Armenia-born Arthur Abraham performing for Germany knocked out Elvin Ayala of the United States with a 12th-round uppercut on March 29 to defend his IBF middleweight title for the seventh time. ...PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE: LEGACY, AND LESSONS OF THE KOCHARYAN YEARS
John Hughes 2
I watch the ripples change their size But never leave the stream David Bowie -- Changes President Robert Kocharyan inherited turmoil. Ten ...ROBERT “THE BUILDER”?: KOCHARYAN’S LAST DAYS IN OFFICE – NO TIME LEFT FOR A FINAL SPURT
Suren Musayelyan
In a matter of days Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan will be handing over the reins of power to his chosen successor. The out-going president will hope to stay in the memory of the nation he ...PAYBACK TIME: MANY BILKED DEPOSITORS RECOVER A FRACTION OF THEIR LOSSES; A MAJORITY VEXED AT PROCESS MECHANICS
Sara Khojoyan
Despite the pre-election and post-election turmoil, compensations of lost Soviet-era bank savings were paid to more than 1,600 citizens in February. But many of the bilked depositors still remain angry ...CONNECTED: KAPAN UNIVERSITY EQUIPPED, WAITING FOR DISTANCE LEARNING
Armine Avagyan
Sargis Manukyan, 37, candidate of technical sciences, is one of those unique lecturers who crosses the Yerevan-Kapan highway to deliver a lecture at the Kapan branch of the State Engineering University ...MOTHER NATURE WRECKS NKR: SEVERE STORM AFTERMATH IN NAGORNO KARABAKH
Naira HayrumyanRepair works of damage caused by a late March storm in Nagorno Karabakh are still in process. The wind speed reached 50 meters/second: old-timers say they haven’t seen such strong wind for the last 50 ...RECOGNITION VERSUS BRINKSMANSHIP?: KOCHARYAN LEAVING OFFICE AMID AZERBAIJAN’S INTENSIFIED SABER-RATTLING
Aris Ghazinyan
In less than a week President Robert Kocharyan will leave his office having served two full consecutive five-year terms, leaving to his successor, among other things, a still unresolved dispute with Azerbaijan ...GUILTY: TER-PETROSYAN VANADZOR SUPPORTER INTERFERED WITH PROCESS COURT SAYS
Naira Bulghadaryan
A resident of Vanadzor is to pay 300,000 drams (about $1,000) fine for violations during the February 19 presidential elections in Armenia. The Prosecutor General of the Lori province charged 59-year-old ...CALLING FOR ORDER: COE GROUP REMINDS AUTHORITIES FOR NEED OF LEGISLATIVE REVIEWS
Gayane Mkrtchyan
Senior visiting Council of Europe diplomats warned Armenian authorities this week that having political prisoners was unacceptable for a member country of this organization. Representatives of the Ago ...CAUSE AND CLAIM: ARRESTS CONTINUE AMID ALLEGATIONS OF POLITICAL MOTIVATION
Gayane AbrahamyanCritics call it a “witch hunt”, authorities call it good police work. Labels aside, Armenia remains under a police alert that leaves citizens out for a stroll or going about their normal work liable to ...TAXING TIMES: NEWSPAPERS NOT FRIENDLY TO GOVERNMENT GET VISITS FROM INSPECTORS
Marianna Grigoryan
Last week, when staff writers of the radical opposition Chorrord Ishkhanutyun newspaper, as usual, were working on some pungent stories on the government, tax inspectors visited the paper’s office and ...TARGETED: HUNTING COMPANY IN CROSSHAIRS OF CONTROVERSY OVER BIRDS
Sara KhojoyanThe recent revelation of an Italian-based hunting company operating in Armenia has raised concern among environmentalists that some species of birds here may become extinct if regulations are not imposed ...SUN SHINE: SPECIAL SCANNER BRINGS LITERATURE, MUSIC TO BLIND
Arpi Harutyunyan
A device developed by Armenian scientists opens a new world for the blind and visually impaired. Arev (Sun) is a scanner that recognizes text, then transfers it to a computer voice that reads in Russian, ...“NOT ACCEPTABLE”: EUROPEAN BODIES AGAINST NEW LAWS ON ASSEMBLY
Two of the most influential bodies of European diplomacy have condemned Armenia’s recent legislative amendments banning public assembly, approved by the National Assembly in the wake of March 1 post-election ...
Most read news (last 7 days)
GENERAL UNDER SIEGE: MANVEL GRIGORYAN FIRED AS DEPUTY MOD FOR BREAKING RANKS
FAMILIES OF OPPRESSED SEEK INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION: LETTER DECRIES ACTS OF “POLITICAL OPPRESSION”
REFORM AND REBUILDING: US DIPLOMAT SAYS SARGSYAN HAS OPPORTUNITY TO “CHANGE THE PATH
John HughesUS MAKES RECOMMENDATION FOR AMBASSADORSHIP: KYRGYZ REPUBLIC DIPLOMAT VETTED
LET THE LEGAL BATTLE BEGIN: 13 COMMITTED FOR TRIAL, SOME OF THE REST GO ON HUNGER-STRIKE
Suren MusayelyanFREEDOM FUNDRAISING: GALA MANAGED TO SECURE ITS FUTURE
Ani HakobyanTAXING TIMES: NEWSPAPERS NOT FRIENDLY TO GOVERNMENT GET VISITS FROM INSPECTORS
Marianna GrigoryanTARGETED: HUNTING COMPANY IN CROSSHAIRS OF CONTROVERSY OVER BIRDS
Sara KhojoyanSPORT: UNBEATEN KING ARTHUR READY TO MEET “THE GHOST”
Suren MusayelyanEUROPEAN DISPATCH: AGO GROUP BRINGS IN PROPOSALS TO DEFUSE TENSIONS
Aris Ghazinyan
© AUA
Today in Armenian history- 1820 Birth of Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimyan "Hairik" in Van (Western Armenia). He died in 1907.
- 1915 Death of Arshak Vramian, a representative of the Central Committee of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Party.
- 1920 Genocide of the Armenians in Sooshee (Gharabagh).
- 1922 Death of Leopold Favri, benefactor and Swiss-Armenian armenologist. He supported orphanages in the Armenian provinces.
- 1945 Death of Vahan Tekeyan, writer, speaker, and public figure. He was born in 1878.
- 1957 Death of actor Ashot Shaghatoonee. He was born in 1882.
- 1995 Garegin I elected Catholicos of the Armenian Church. He became the 131st Spiritual Leader of Armenian Holy Apostolic Church.
Forum most active discussions
ARMENIAN NEWS
INTERACTIVE NEWS
INFORMATION
MY ARMTOWN
How to quit smoking?
How to write in Armenian on Windows XP?
All materials published on this website are taken from open sources and are copyrighted by their respective owners. You cannot reproduce or copy any materials published on armtown.com without written consent of original copyright holder. If you want to remove any material, please send us an email with proof of ownership/copyright and your material will be removed immediately. All materials published for information purposes only.