KHOROG, January 19, 2011, Asia-Plus — In 2010, five residents of Murgab district in Gorno Badakhshan were detained for illegally hunting Marco Polo sheep, Farhod Mamadnazarbekov, the deputy head of the GBAO agency for environmental protection, told reporters in Khorog n January 18.
“The poachers were detained in a joint raid made by the agency specialists and officers from the State Committee for National Security (SCNS)’s department in Gorno Badakhshan,” said Mamadnazarbekov, “Criminal proceedings were instituted against them on charges of illegal hunting and illegal storage of weapons.”
He added that cancellation of moratorium on hunting Marco Polo sheep had promoted improvement of the financial situation of the agency. Since late September when the moratorium was lifted, 34 licenses have been given for hunting Marco Polo sheep and 20 licenses have been given for hunting Asiatic ibex (wild mountain goat). The license for hunting Marco Polo sheep costs 40,000 somoni and the license for hunting Asiatic ibex costs 329 somoni.
Last year, the budget received nearly one million somoni from hunting and a number of nature-conservative measures, Mamadnazarbekov noted.
He said hunting today was regulated in the country only by a document approved by the country’s committee for environmental protection that did not promote regulation of hunting. Mamadnazarbekov considers that it is necessary to adopt a special law on hunting.
We will recall that a two-year moratorium on hunting Marco Polo sheep was introduced in Tajikistan on January 1, 2009. The moratorium was lifted ahead of schedule in September 2010.
The Marco Polo sheep (Ovis ammon polii) is a subspecies of argali sheep, named after Marco Polo. Their habitat is the mountainous regions of Central Asia. Marco Polo sheep are distinguishable mostly by their large size and spiraling horns. Their conservation status is “near threatened” and efforts have been made to protect their numbers and keep them from commercial hunting. It has also been suggested that crossing them with domestic sheep could have agricultural benefits.
