On 2 December 2008, the Uzbek electronic news bulletin Ferghana.ru reported that the Bulgarian President, Mr Georgi Parvanov, went hunting and shot dead an Ovis ammon severtzovi, Kyzylkum or Severtzov’s Argali, in the Nuratin nature reserve while on his official visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan journalist later reported that the plan for the hunt had come to be known on 4 November 2008, long before the President’s visit to Uzbekistan.

The news aroused the Bulgarian public’s indignation for a number of reasons:

1. The Ovis ammon severtzovi is an endangered subspecies of argali. There are between several hundred and two thousand Kyzylkum argalies remaining nowadays. The Bulgarian President should engage himself with the protection rather than hunting of these animals.

2. Since 1975, Nuratin has been a strict nature reserve (Ia category of IUCN). Hunting, as well as all other human activities that could endanger or harm the animals living in that territory, are strictly prohibited. As President and Bulgarian citizen, Mr Parvanov should observe rather than break the law.

3. It is known that the human rights protection is a serious problem in the Republic of Uzbekistan. It seems more appropriate that the Bulgarian President should have taken care to meet Uzbek dissidents and take a stand on the problem rather than take part in hunts organised by the Uzbek state security services.

4. The Ovis ammon severtzovi trophies are quite expensive. Only up to several Kyzylkum argalies per annum can be shot legally and the price for each animal is determined on an individual basis. It is known, however, that prices for other animals in the other subspecies start at $20,000. It is indeed awkward that the Bulgarian President - who is also a patron of Bulgaria’s Christmas, an initiative supporting financially children with severe health problems - is willing to pay such a serious price at a whim of his own.

For further information, please visit:

The original article in www.ferghana.ru (in Russian)

The article translated in English

An article informing that the hunt had been planned on 4 November 2008 (in Russian)

The reaction in Kafene.net, who were the first to give voice to the news about the hunt in Bulgaria (in Bulgarian)

Mr Ivo Indzhev, “Parvanov’s Omerta Cracks in Uzbekistan” (in Bulgarian)

Mr Ivo Indzhev, “The Poacher’s Recidivism of an Unusual and Very Protected Kind” (in Bulgarian)

A series of reactions and reports in the Bulgarian newspapers Dnevnik and Kapital (in Bulgarian)

Go

To:

Mr Georgi Parvanov
President of the Republic of Bulgaria

CC:
Mr Islom Karimov
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Mr José Manuel Barroso
President of the European Commission

Mr Ivaylo Kalfin
Minister of Exterior of the Republic of Bulgaria



Dear Mr President,



I was appalled to find out that you have hunted and shot dead an Ovis ammon severtzovi, Kyzylkum argali, in the Nuratin nature reserve in Uzbekistan.

The Nuratin nature reserve has been a protected territory since 1975. Hunting and all other human activities that could endanger or harm the animals living there are strictly prohibited by Uzbek legislation, as there are only between several hundred and two thousand Kyzylkum sheep remaining nowadays. The Kyzylkum sheep is also included in Appendix II of the Washington Convention (CITES).

I hereby wish to protest against your violation of local as well as international legislation. This is immoral, intolerable and unacceptable, especially in view of your office as President of the Republic of Bulgaria, which is a part of the European Union’s democratic family.

I therefore insist that you return your Kyzylkum argali hunting trophy to the Republic of Uzbekistan’s President, Mr Karimov, and publicly apologise to the peoples of Bulgaria and Uzbekistan.

I also insist that Bulgaria compensate the Nuratin nature reserve for your illegal hunt by actively helping protect the reserve’s wild nature using the financial mechanisms for international assistance available in the European Union.



Sincerely