Animal snaring is needed to regulate the wolf population and will not target rare felines in their habitats, Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi said in response to an inquiry from the State Duma Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection. In November 2016, the ministry’s Public Council approved draft amendments to hunting regulations related to snaring. The document was modified to reflect the comments of environmental organisations.

Earlier, State Duma deputies Nikolai Valuyev and Vladimir Panov sent an appeal to ministry officials about the need to limit animal snaring in Russian regions home to animals listed in the Red Data Book. Valuyev and Panov believe that snares may undermine efforts to protect rare animal populations.

Animal snaring meets international standards, the ministry’s press service has said. These standards are regulated by the 1998 Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards between the European Union, Canada and the Russian Federation, which Russia ratified in 2008.

Today, the controlled use of this method in certain Russian regions is virtually the only harmless way of reducing the wolf population.