Armenian Nature

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenian Nature

We should do this in Armenia.

00:44 17.03.2016

An Iranian insurance company has started compensating herders and ranchers for Persian Leopard attacks as a voluntary environmental measure, as has a Russian company, for attacks by the country’s own Amur Leopard and Amur Tiger




Amur, a Siberian tiger, and a goat called Timur are seen here in an enclosure at the Primorye Safari Park

© Sputnik/ Vitaly Ankov

Ooh La La! One of Timur the Goat’s Fiancées Turns Up Pregnant
According to Ali Teimouri, Director-General of the Department of Environment Protection and Hunting and Fishing Management Office of Iran, "The decision is part of attempts to improve the conditions for endangered species and as an action of priority in a national protection scheme for the Persian Leopard; the insurance policy is the product of months of hectic work of examination of different insurance schemes, which was finalized Wednesday," Mehr News Agency reported.

The Persian Leopard is an endangered animal, but shepherds keep killing it to protect livestock. The insurance policy is aimed to prevent them from doing so, as people will now be aware they will be compensated in case of a leopard attack.

"Once the insurance plan goes into effect, people who suffer losses caused by leopards will be appropriately compensated," Teimouri said. "This is a highly laudable action which the insurance company has voluntarily been involved in; the responsibility still lies with the general public to initiate proper actions of other sort to protect country's natural national resources."

A similar initiative has been taken in Russia, announced by the Chief of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Ivanov. According to Ivanov, wild cats in the Russian Far East have increased their population in the past few years, thanks to environmental protection initiatives. This has led to more frequent attacks on livestock by the Amur Leopard and Amur Tiger.

"One of the largest Russian insurance companies has volunteered to insure the damage caused by leopards and tigers. The maximum insurance amounts to up to two [$28,150]," said Ivanov, as reported by PrimaMedia.

Predator attack insurance is a common practice in certain regions, where the risk of wild animal attacks on livestock or people, including tourist groups, is present. India, for example, established the practice in 2002, and neighboring Pakistan has records of cattle – and human – insurance against such attacks going back to 1998.


Read more: http://sputniknews.com/environment/2...#ixzz437FyWWEI

[Eddo211]

Re: Armenian Nature

Foreign hunters pay big money to shoot a big game without problems.

[Mher]

Re: Armenian Nature

^^^
I think it was Atlanta Georgia where the police raided a drug dealers house and found a very young lion,tiger,and bear.
All mistreated. The bear had a harness on since a small cub and as he grew the harness became embedded into his skin.
They were all in bad shape.
If one googles or YouTube's --- the bear,tiger & lion perchance one might see what isn't seen.

when it comes to animal abuse, there are sick bastards everywhere. but unfortunately, in armenia, since many of the perpetrators ARE the government, there is a lot more of this sort of sick personal zoos. I'm not a big fan of the super activism, and criticizing all thing without understanding context and background, but this is one issue thats just beyond defending. Beyond the suffering of the animals, these bastards feed some of these animals more ten kilos of meat per day, while people can't afford to feed their kids bread.

[Artashes]

Re: Armenian Nature

^^^
I think it was Atlanta Georgia where the police raided a drug dealers house and found a very young lion,tiger,and bear.
All mistreated. The bear had a harness on since a small cub and as he grew the harness became embedded into his skin.
They were all in bad shape.
If one googles or YouTube's --- the bear,tiger & lion perchance one might see what isn't seen.

[Mher]

Re: Armenian Nature

Which scumbag oligarch owned, abused, than abandoned these poor animals for his own warped amusement???- God bless the old couple tending to these animals the best they can

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...two-years.html

according to a local from Gyumri, his name is Stepan Vardanyan, and he's fallen ill, so he can't take care of them. these bastards and their private zoos. people are struggling to feed their kids with bread and these bastards lock up up animals that each require a few dozen pounds of meat per day.

[Joseph]

Re: Armenian Nature

Which scumbag oligarch owned, abused, than abandoned these poor animals for his own warped amusement???- God bless the old couple tending to these animals the best they can

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3406564/Inside-world-s-worst-zoo-Starving-bears-lions-forced-live-slaughterhouse-scraps-abandoned-Armenian-oligarch-no-wonder-no-one-s-visit-two-years.html

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenian Nature

ABOUT 120 HIMALAYAN CEDARS PLANTED IN KOGHB VILLAGE

13:55 November 25, 2015

EcoLur

About 120 Himalayan cedars were planted in Koghb Village, Tavush
region. The trees were planted in the areas surrounding Koghb art
school and secondary school in which the members of "Cedar" Facebook
group, schoolchildren, teachers, learners at the art school and the
employees of "Zikatar environmental center" SNCO participated. Khachik
Abovyan, RA Deputy Minister of Nature Protection also took part in
the tree planting.

http://ecolur.org/en/news/officials/about-120-himalayan-cedars-planted-in-koghb-village/7836/

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenian Nature

Gosh Lake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMy9hsgPDTc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0fWcWwiyRg

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenian Nature

They need to advertise ecotourism especially if it is only an hour from the city.

[Artashes]

Re: Armenian Nature

Armenia offers refuge for Europe’s last leopards
Caucasus conservation project aims to help rare wildlife and local people

Mon, May 25, 2015, 01:00

High on an Armenian hillside, Gor Hovhannisyan eases a camouflage-green box from its hiding place in the trees and opens the back to see what he has caught.
This time, only a bird and a rabbit triggered the camera trap’s motion sensors. But far bigger beasts also roam the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge: lynx, bears, wolves and at least one of Europe’s last remaining leopards.
Across a deep gorge speckled with thyme and wildflowers, Hovhannisyan points to the snowy ridge where a Caucasian leopard was last captured here on camera; behind him, far below, a lush plain of farmland and fruit trees stretches away to Mount Ararat, an ice-clad 5,000m volcano just over the border in Turkey.
The refuge is breaking new ground in Armenia and the region, by leasing a large area of outstanding beauty and biodiversity and ensuring that local people contribute to and benefit from its protection.
The challenge is considerable in a country where environmental awareness is low, large predators are seen as a threat to life and livestock, and the rule of law is too weak to control either small-scale trappers or wealthy hunters.
Geopolitics doesn’t help, either. Barely 25km south of the refuge is Azerbaijan, which officially is still at war with Armenia after an early-1990s conflict. Some 10km further lies Iran. The leopard’s territory spans all three countries, further complicating conservation efforts.
Hovhannisyan is one of several local men who work as wardens in the refuge, patrolling its 4,000 hectares in a battered green 4x4 and on horseback.
Hunting ban
“All hunting is banned in the refuge,” he shouts, as the groaning 4x4 bounces beneath a troop of iridescent bee-eaters preening on a telephone line.
“We make sure no one’s in the refuge without permission, and we talk to the villagers. We tell them that if they hunt bezoar goats or boar or even rabbits, then there will be less food for the wolf and bear and lynx. And then they are more likely to come to our yards and fields and take a sheep or cow.”
People’s lives are intertwined with nature here, to a degree that is not always comfortable. In winter, hungry wolves sometimes come down from the mountains to snatch a sheep, chicken or dog from a yard; in spring and summer the shepherds take their flocks to the high meadows, into the domain of the big carnivores; and autumn is the bears’ favourite time to raid the valley’s orchards – though they also amble down in warmer months to feast on fruit.
“Last year a bear family ate lots of apples and damaged the trees, and they like to come for apricots,” says Ashot Manatsakanyan, who lives in Urtsadzor, a village on the edge of the refuge.
“And I’ve seen a bear sitting and eating watermelons like a man – splitting them open in his lap, eating the best bits, throwing away the rest and grabbing another,” he recalls.
“Sometimes a wolf comes into the village, but it’s the shepherds in the hills who have the most problems. Even with six or seven guard dogs, a pack of wolves can take a sheep or even a horse. They complain that the wolf is taking money from their pockets, but I’m glad the wolves are here – and they need to eat too.”
The refuge aims to boost and diversify the local economy through eco-tourism, and it helps villagers access clean and cost-saving technology such as solar panels, and runs classes for adults and children on nature and sustainability.
Conservation model
“We want this type of conservation model to be spread more widely through the Caucasus,” says Ruben Khachatryan, the founder of the refuge and director of Yerevan’s zoo.
Though it is barely an hour’s drive from Yerevan, there are few visitors to the refuge, which is supported by the UK-based World Land Trust.
Most that do make the trip dream of glimpsing a Caucasus – also know as Persian – leopard, but the chance is minuscule: only a handful survive in Armenia, and the entire population may be less than 1,000.
“In Armenia, people and leopards have co-existed since the early prehistoric times. Depictions of leopards can be found in many ancient petroglyphs . . . recounting origin myths and tribal traditions of ancient Armenia,” says Khachatryan.
“The inhabitants of Caucasus region should be proud of not killing the last of the species, and to have this amazing feline thrive in their territory.”
No one in Armenia has a better hope of seeing a leopard than refuge warden Hovhannisyan.
“Sometimes, when I’m alone on my horse in the hills, I wonder if it might attack me,” he says. “But I’d still love to see a leopard up close. It’s great to know that it’s out there.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world...ards-1.2224264

---- and runs classes for adults and children on nature (and) sustainability ----
That is really good to hear. Along with opening up avenues for the local "people" populations advancement , is this education and enlightenment . Education can lead to understanding the needs of the other lives we live with.