13 February 2004 11:43
Man convicted of killing tiger, leaving cub orphaned in Russian Far East
[Presenter] A Vladivostok court has delivered a verdict on the killing of an Amur tigress. The species is listed in
the Red Book [of endangered species]. The hearings have already evoked a wide public response. The Russian law provides
for tough penalties for killings of rare animals. Local environmentalists reckon that the judgment turned out to be
rather lenient. Aleksey Maksimenko has all the details.
[Correspondent] The tigress was found dead in the taiga by local hunters. The local police force launched an
investigation at once. It did not take long to identify the killer of the animal in the small community. Vasiliy Zelenin
immediately confessed that he had shot the big cat and hid the trophy, the tiger's skin, in a beehive.
[Unidentified uniformed official, reading out from prepared text] When he came home, he put the skin, the tail, the
head and the four paws, which he had cut off from the tiger, into a bag and hid into the beehive, which stands in the
backyard of his home. He did not tell anyone of his family that he had killed the tiger.
[Correspondent] The hunter who shot the tiger is being tried as a murderer. The Russian Criminal Code lays down
severe penalties for this offence. There are few tigers left in the wild. Every single specimen counts. The Amur tiger
has long been listed in the Red Book.
[Viktor Yudin, senior research associate at the Biological and Soil Science Institute with the Far East branch of the
Russian Academy of Sciences, captioned] It was a deliberate hunt. It was not hooliganism or anything, it was simple
bravado and apparently, a desire to make some money. Now it has been said that there is nothing to eat in the village.
But only lazy people can say so.
[Correspondent] The trial of the poacher did not last long. Given the hunter's guilty plea and his repentance,
the sentence was passed in a matter of hours. Because the defendant had no previous convictions, he got off with a hefty
fine.
[Unidentified judge, reading out the verdict] The court has ruled that Vasiliy Vladimirovich Zelenin be found guilty
under Article 258 Part 1 clause B of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and sentenced to a penalty amounting to
R130,000 [4,500 dollars] to be paid to the state.
[Correspondent] This is said to be the lightest sentence for a killing of an Amur tiger. These animals, while
carnivorous, never attack humans first. They are killed for their beautiful skins and good money. A trophy like this can
fetch a handsome sum. Poachers are seldom found and rarely if ever punished.
[Viktor Gekht, lawyer for the Far East branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature, captioned] There are some 350-370
tigers left. Mind you, 30-40 tigers are killed by poachers every year.
[Correspondent] After the tigress was killed, a tiger cub of hers was found in the taiga. Local hunters feed it
occasionally to save it from death of starvation. Igor is now like mum and dad to the tiger cub. He says the cub has got
a good appetite, but it misses its mother.
[Igor Domoratskiy, hunter, captioned] The tiger cub is looking for its mother. It keeps coming back where she used to
take it.
[Correspondent] Specialists are now working hard to save the surviving tiger cub. They will be feeding him until
April, when, it is hoped, it will become able to survive in the wild on its own. The 12-month-old cub is one of this
planet's remaining few Amur tigers.
[NTV] |
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