Biodiversity Report - Georgia '99
Response Activities

 

 

 

Hunting Farms

 

Text: Irakli Macharashvili
Data Source: Canted for Recovery of Endangered Species "Noah's Ark" (NACRES)
Photos: Irakli Macharashvili

The hunting farms are considered all over the world to be one of the means for the wildlife conservation. These farms enable to conduct the conservation of the fauna representatives and their habitats through economic stimulation.

According to the natural conditions the farm territory is correspondingly divided into different sections thus establishing protected (reserve) regime in the places of vital importance for the animals.

They failed to form these farms until this time though the legislative base for these farms has existed for several years already. One of the serious obstacles being inability of the authorities to be financed from the state budget for preliminary analysis of the biotopes, registering of fauna objects and to specify the quotas.

NACRES undertook the obligation to conduct such analyses in 3 areas immediately requiring conservation activities. These are Alazani groves in Sighnaghi and Lagodekhi administrative districts, Trusso Canyon in Kazbegi district, Arkhoti (Khevsureti, the river Assa Canyon) in Dusheti district. These regions were selected through the following reasons:

The situation is quite different at present. The goat horns are being sold in great amounts and at price both unprocessed and processed (horns for drinking wine). So, intensive hunting is underway. There are even cases when a great amount of animals is being shot from helicopters the hunters taking only the animal heads. Such uncontrolled hunting results in recent considerable reduction in goat's amount there are, probably, only 5000 heads of Capra cylindricornis in Georgia now. The species entered the IUCN's Red Book (category: VU; IUCN Red List, 1996). Forming hunting farms enables to work out a programme of sustainable use. It will be foreseen for local population and implies economic incentives for ecotourism and strongly regulated hunting. At the same time, it promotes rational use and conservation of goats. For planning the conservation activities, intensive research in the status of goats is required: their taxonomy, population ecology, population genetics and ethology. Implementation of these activities is planned by NACRES in co-operation with the Grenoble (France) University Laboratory of Genetics. Forming of hunting farms will, obviously, promote the organisation of the research work as well. In the beginning of this year the Council of Experts of the Georgian CITES service in the Ministry of Environment launched a tender to reveal the owners of the hunting farms general licenses.


The other two areas are located on Great Caucasus. The main hunting object here is being an East Caucasian goat (Capra cylindricornis). These are areas of law economic development, which is caused by different factors such as: geographic isolation from the main regions of Georgia; severe agroclimatic conditions and lack of land plots; borderline location. Due to above mentioned a level of the population migration is high.

A mode of living of the local population has long been connected with hunting goats being a certain ritual object in this respect. However, despite this this animal has never faced any danger even due to its hunting for centuries.


The situation is quite different at present. The goat horns are being sold in great amounts and at price both unprocessed and processed (horns for drinking wine). So, intensive hunting is underway. There are even cases when a great amount of animals is being shot from helicopters the hunters taking only the animal heads. Such uncontrolled hunting results in recent considerable reduction in goat's amount there are, probably, only 5000 heads of Capra cylindricornis in Georgia now. The species entered the IUCN's Red Book (category: VU; IUCN Red List, 1996).

Forming hunting farms enables to work out a program of sustainable use. It will be foreseen for local population and implies economic incentives for ecotourism and strongly regulated hunting. At the same time, it promotes rational use and conservation of goats

For planning the conservation activities, intensive research in the status of goats is required: their taxonomy, population ecology, population genetics and ethology. Implementation of these activities is planned by NACRES in co-operation with the Grenoble (France) University Laboratory of Genetics. Forming of hunting farms will, obviously, promote the organisation of the research work as well. In the beginning of this year the Council of Experts of the Georgian CITES service in the Ministry of Environment launched a tender to reveal the owners of the hunting farms general licenses.

 

 

© UNEP/GRID-Tbilisi, 2000

1, M. Alexidze St. Tbilisi, 380093, GEORGIA

Phone/Fax: (995-32) 942808

E-mail: grid@gridtb.caucasus.net

 

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Last Updated: 24/02/2000