The Primorye Territory Department of Hunting Supervision (Okhotnadzor), including its Directorate for the Protection of Wildlife and Specially Protected Areas, has summed up the results of its last year’s activities. Last year, its response teams carried out 2,519 raids in total, during which they seized 123 illegal firearms and confiscated illegally hunted animals (16 roe deer, nine boars, four Manchurian wapitis, 12 sika deer, one musk deer, one Himalayan bear and three brown bears). Five criminal cases have been opened.

In fighting poaching, Okhotnadzor inspectors safeguard the habitat of the Amur tiger daily and preserve its food resources, as well as respond immediately if predators come close to populated areas and assist animal rehabilitation centres.

Sergei Vobly, chief of an Okhotnadzor rapid response team, has been working in the department for more than 30 years. He notes that the number of poachers has decreased, but, unfortunately, it is hard to stop all violations. “There are more violators using infrared imagers. Before that, they used light emitters, but now there are new opportunities. These poachers work in groups, and we will not reveal all their tricks. It is hard to fight this kind of people,” Sergei Vobly says.

Okhotnadzor receives support from the Amur Tiger Centre. The centre pays quarterly bonuses to inspectors and provides response teams with clothes, equipment and vehicles.