On 15 August, a Naryan-Mar court heard a case of polar bear poaching on Vaygach Island. Two residents of the village of Varnek, born in 1986 and 1988, killed the Red Data Book animal and sold its pelt to a passing-by ship. The suspects were found guilty: each was sentenced to 240 hours of community service.

“In 2013, Federal Law No 150-FZ entered into force in Russia, which introduced the new Article No 258.1 to the Criminal Code. The article stipulates criminal responsibility for the illegal production, possession, purchase, storage, transport, shipment and sale of the most valuable wild species listed in the Russian Red Data Book.  However, the illegal trade of polar bear pelts has not declined,” said Viktor Nikiforov, Director of the Polar Bear-Human Conflict Programme of the Marine Mammal Council. “Hopefully, the Interior Ministry will manage to break the chain of illegal production and trade of polar bear pelts. The Natural Resources Ministry announced a ban on importing polar bear pelts, but it has not been formalised yet, so illegal sellers may pretend that they have imported these pelts from Canada.”

(Photo © Fyodor Yakovlev)