Speaking at the 21 August Government meeting, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the system for protecting national rare animals was not effective enough, and that poaching continued to inflict tremendous damage on nature.

The Prime Minister recalled that the Government had recently adopted a number of measures stipulating tougher liability for the illegal poaching and selling of wild animals. For instance, criminal liability is stipulated for smuggling particularly valuable animal and fish species, which are listed in the Red Data Book. “Work in this direction must continue,” he stressed. In all, over 70 Russian regions have started keeping their own Red Data Books that list rare animal and plant species.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi also delivered a report at the meeting. The Minister noted that a long-term strategy for the preservation of rare and endangered animal species had been approved this year, and that the document aimed to considerably increase and balance their populations over the next 15 years, with due consideration for the environmental specifics of regional ecosystems. For instance, the tiger population is expected to grow by 40 percent.

At the same time, the authorities are taking legislative action in order to protect rare wild animals. In July 2013, a new article stipulating criminal liability for buying, keeping, transporting, delivering and selling rare animal species was added to the Russian Criminal Code. Experts note that various measures, including tougher liability in the area of animal protection, have made it possible to increase the populations of some rare animal species, including the Amur tiger.