“Crows fell on people’s heads”: fauna began to die en masse in the Stavropol Territory

This poisoned grain is to blame

Birds and animals are dying en masse in the Stavropol Territory. The bodies of dead pheasants, cranes, partridges and even hares are found by residents of the region in different parts of the region. Local residents and volunteers blame Stavropol farmers for the mass sea, cultivating fields with poisoned grain for rodents. According to them, this is not the first year that this has happened in the region, and carcasses of wild animals and even birds from the Red Data Book remain in the fields along with mice…

The regional Ministry of Natural Resources is now conducting an inspection on the fact of the mass death of the fauna. Hunting inspectors and veterinary specialists found dead animals on the territory of Khleborob LLC, 8 km from the village of Konstantinovskoye, Petrovsky District. Dead hares and pheasants, hunting for which is prohibited in this area, were also found by local residents in the fields of the Novoselitsky district of the Stavropol Territory.

Carcasses of hares turned out to be unsuitable for research, but the corpses of birds found in the Petrovsky district were sent to the regional laboratory for the detection of diseases, in particular influenza and Newcastle disease. However, the reason for the death of animals could not be an illness, but a negligent attitude towards nature by local farmers.

The fact is that a large number of mice eating farm crops right in the fields are a serious problem for Stavropol agricultural producers. Some farmers have chosen to take the easy way and simply scatter poisoned grains (barley, wheat, corn) to reduce the rodent population.

For such work, local farmers attract laborers from the region. “For tomorrow, 15 people are needed, to scatter poison in the field, they will pick it up from the tank at 8:00 and bring it back, 1800 rubles a day,” an ad in one of the Stavropol chats with job offers says. In theory, the grain needs to be buried in the ground, but it is simply thoughtlessly scattered across the fields and lies in heaps in the open air.

Residents of Stavropol believe that birds and hares could eat poisoned grains instead of rodents, which caused the death of animals. According to Valentina, a resident of the region, this is not the first case of mass poisoning of birds: “This method has been used for several years. Crows died on the fly, almost fell on people’s heads.

Irina Gazaryan, director of the Kovcheg Animal Relief Fund, also said in an interview with MK that the situation with mass fatal poisoning of fauna in the Stavropol Territory is not new. “People who are engaged in direct assistance to animals and work with hunters report that this is not the first time. This happens every year, around this season. Everyone unanimously agrees that farmers poison rodents in the fields and wild animals are poisoned with the same poison.”

Caring citizens, watching the ongoing natural disaster in the region, repeatedly appealed to the state supervision bodies, but for years they continued to ignore the appeals.

“It is a pity that the Ministry of Natural Resources cannot influence the situation in any way, I don’t know for what reasons,” added Ghazaryan.

Volunteer Tatyana Orlova told MK that she had been witnessing the death of local fauna for three years. “A year or two ago I drove past the Filimonovskaya village near Lake Liman. Heaps of orange-pink poisoned grain, soaked in something, lay in the fields. Then I went to the Novotroitskoye reservoir. There were a lot of ducks there. They lay half-dead on the water. But no one fired at them. I pulled them out of the water and put them on the shore. Before that, I heard that a lot of Red Book cranes were found dead in the Demino region, about 250 pieces. How can they not die if the poisoned grain is spread everywhere? Liman Lake is directly opposite the poisoned fields. And there are swans, herons, whoever is not there … They all peck at it and catch mice that eat it.

Tatyana said that she repeatedly wrote letters to the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Stavropol Territory in order to draw the attention of the state to the problem and solve it. “They told me that everything was within the normal range. That there were some checks. The next day I drove by – these heaps were gone.

But in the spring, according to Tatyana, history repeated itself in the previously mentioned Petrovsky district. “I went to my dad – dead eagles lie in the fields.” It turns out that with negligent farmers no poachers are needed. And there are no huntsmen on them, and the council, it turns out, too …