Russia needs an ombudsman to protect the rights of wild animals

The head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources, Svetlana Radionova, proposed establishing the position of Commissioner for Wild Animal Rights in Russia. She expressed this idea at the round table “Status of a “rescued” animal: mobilization of society and rights for the conservation and formation of biodiversity”, organized by Delovaya Rossiya.

“I believe that it is necessary to introduce the position of an ombudsman who would specifically protect the rights of wild animals,” Radionova was quoted as saying in a message on the website of Rosprirodnadzor.

According to her, this year alone, the service took part in the removal from nature of 118 affected animals and birds listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.

“A big problem that we constantly face is that there are no centers for overexposure and rehabilitation of animals. No funding. Everything is in the hands of volunteers. Every time we confiscate an animal, we run around Russia and look for where to attach it,” said the head of Rosprirodnadzor.

In addition, in her opinion, it is necessary to finalize the law "On the Fauna".

“We have seen the project, but have not agreed on it yet. In our opinion, it does not yet reflect the current problems,” Radionova noted.
In turn, the chairman of "Business Russia" Alexei Repik believes that the strengthening of public control over the rescue of wild animals will contribute to the harmonization of relations between animals and people. He recalled that the responsibility for poaching and illegal business involving animals has been tightened, a system of rehabilitation and reintroduction has been created.

According to Repik, due to the rescued animals, who improved their health and trained for life in the wild, the population of unique individuals is being restored in many regions of the country, the report says.