Criminal Case After Massacre of Walruses
In Chukotka unidentified poachers shot 19 marine mammals. A criminal case.
Employees of the National Park "Beringia" found the carcasses of 19 animals near the rookery at Cape and Cape Pynnan Halvetkun, the press service of the Prosecutor's Office of the Chukotka Autonomous District. Supposedly, the death of the animals could occur as a result of gunshot wounds.
District Prosecutor's Office insisted on the excitation criminal case of the massacre of walruses in the national park. The case was initiated under part 3 of Article 256 of the Criminal Code ("Illegal harvesting of aquatic biological resources, a group of persons by prior conspiracy with big damage"). Earlier, during the pre-investigation Directorate of Internal Affairs in the region found no crime in this incident. Recall that in October by a specially protected area "Beringia" was found 19 corpses of Pacific walrus. In some animals the carcasses were found gunshot wounds, nine of them were missing the head and baculum.
According to preliminary estimates, the damage caused by water biological resources, amounted to 400 thousand rubles.
Recall, the Pacific walrus population inhabiting the eastern Arctic, according to scientists, is 120-130 thousand individuals and tends to decrease.