Brutal prices: how the smuggling of rare animals works
The Russian government has reconfirmed the list of animals that are prohibited from being kept at home. The order will come into force on September 1 of this year. Meanwhile, exotic animals, birds and reptiles in certain circles have long turned into status luxury items. The demand for them in the shadow market is only growing along with the price. Izvestia investigated how the illegal trade in human goods is organized.
A high-profile case
In early April, Domodedovo customs officers found a minibus in a temporary storage warehouse, which contained cages with exotic animals, a law enforcement source told Izvestia. The cargo arrived the day before by plane from the Kyrgyz city of Osh to Zhukovsky Airport. Customs officers found 374 budgies, 20 corellas, and 20 lovebirds in eight cages. There were supporting documents for this animal. But there were eight more parrots and 40 land turtles in the pallet. The study showed that four unaccounted—for birds are from the genus of pink cockatoos, and the same number are Senegalese long—winged parrots. As for turtles, they all belong to the species of Central Asian.
According to security officials, the shipment of smuggled birds and turtles is estimated to cost almost 1.3 million rubles. Meanwhile, the turnover of such live goods is strictly limited by international standards and Russian legislation.
Cockatoos, Senegalese long-winged parrots and turtles are listed in annex II to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). There are over 32 thousand rare animals from all over the planet on this list. All listed species are also listed in the Red Book of Russia. Upon the discovery of the prohibited cargo, a criminal case has been opened under the article on smuggling.
Expensive toys
According to animal rights activists, the global shadow market for exotic animals is one of the largest, along with drug trafficking, weapons and jewelry.
"Its annual turnover reaches $300 billion," says Anastasia Fedyunina, head of the Zooprovo NGO. — Despite the seeming improbability, the figure may even be underestimated. It is enough to open any search engine to see hundreds of ads for the sale of "exotics" of any kind. People are going crazy — for example, on one of the trading platforms there is an offer for the art painting of Madagascar cockroaches.
They sell rare animals mainly via the Internet, if you have money, you can actually buy anyone. Sellers earn from several tens of thousands to millions of rubles from the sale of one animal.
At the same time, customers often just throw away the animals after playing with them to their heart's content, says Feklunina.
— Most of them die because "exotics" like no other need professional care, and neither the seller nor the buyer knows the intricacies of their content. Veterinarians can't always help either — many won't break the law, while others simply don't know how to treat them either.
Bengal tigers and panthers
Izvestia has found one of the channels for the sale of rare animals on Telegram. It offers not only parrots and reptiles, but even brown bears and panthers. There was even an advertisement for the sale of a two—month-old Bengal tiger, an endangered species with a population of about 2.5 thousand individuals in 2011.
It is curious that the administration does not name the most forbidden lots in the text of the ads, but only posts their photos or videos with the caption "urgent sale", "price reduced", or vice versa — writes the text, but does not accompany the media content. This tactic probably gives administrations the opportunity to avoid blocking and problems with the law. The administrator of the electronic store is a certain Evgenia Sh. from the Krasnodar Territory.
International investigation
However, rare animals are not only imported and sold in Russia, but also exported from the country through shady channels. In April of this year, the Rosselkhoznadzor announced that they intended to request information about an international exotic animal trade network that had been shut down by the Spanish police.
Earlier, two people were arrested in Manakor for selling rare animals over the Internet. Foreign media reported that breeders, carriers and veterinarians were involved in the online trade of exotic cats. Animal smuggling was carried out from Russia and Belarus, among others. The investigation is about the illegal sale of white tigers, smoky and black leopards, northern lynxes, cougars and hyenas. The seized animals were placed in the safari park of the Sleep Server.
From the point of view of the law
The laws of the Russian Federation are aimed at strict protection of rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, enshrined in Article 60 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection," said Alla Georgieva, a civil lawyer. The Red Book of the Russian Federation and regional Red Books serve for the protection and accounting of these species.
— Import, export, transportation and turnover of rare species are regulated by Russian legislation in accordance with international law, — says the lawyer. — Especially valuable wild animals listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and (or) protected by international treaties are included in a separate list, for the illegal trafficking of which criminal liability is provided.
The extraction, transfer of rights of use, maintenance and breeding of Red Book animals are allowed only on the basis of the permission of Rosprirodnadzor, which requires an extensive package of documents defined by the administrative regulations of the department.
— The smuggling of rare birds and animals is suppressed, and violators are brought to administrative or criminal responsibility.
Administrative liability is also provided for the removal from the habitat, storage, transportation, collection, maintenance, acquisition, sale, transfer or destruction of protected organisms (if this does not entail criminal liability) in accordance with art. 8.35 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. 258 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) comes for illegal hunting. The punishment depends on the severity of the crime, the most severe is imprisonment for up to five years in a penal colony. 258.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) for the illegal extraction and trafficking of especially valuable wild animals and aquatic biological resources from the Red Book of the Russian Federation. Crimes committed using official position or by an organized group are punishable by up to nine years in prison.
— To import rare animals for sale, you must have documents confirming vaccination, as well as a number of other additional information, — says lawyer Georgieva. — In particular, you need to go through veterinary control at customs.
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