ALARM: Rare Griffon Vultures Are Once Again Caught in Illegal Hunting

Econews.am, the environmental information website, continues to present images and details of illegal hunting cases in collaboration with the initiative "Love Animals Hate Hunters." This time, it seems that a rare griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), a critically endangered species, has likely fallen victim to illegal hunting. This species is recorded in the Red Book of Animals of Armenia and is also included in the Red List of the IUCN with a status of "Least Concern."

The photograph shows Smbat Hayrumyan, a resident of Kapan, Syunik Province, who uploaded the picture to the open internet on February 4, 2019.

"This specimen is most likely over 6 years old. The species is also listed in Appendix II of the CITES convention and in Appendix II of the Bern Convention. In Armenia, there are 46-54 pairs of griffon vultures. A fine of 250,000 dram is also imposed for illegal hunting," said Karen Aghababyan, Director of the NGO "Towards Sustainable Ecosystems" and a PhD in Sciences, in an interview with EcoNews.am.

He also drew attention to the fact that the car's windshield was broken.

"This could have been caused by a strong impact, for example, from a 6 kg bird falling from above, which could have happened due to a gunshot or possibly becoming entangled in power lines, if indeed there are lines in that area. Another possibility is that the bird tried to fly off from the edge of the road where it might have been feeding, and the driver struck it with the vehicle," he elaborated.

The license plate visible in the photograph is also noteworthy. By examining Smbat Hayrumyan's publicly available data, it becomes evident that there is an entire "clan" of cars with similar license plates. The individual with the most photographs related to this "car clan," once again a resident of Kapan, is Samvel Harutyunyan, who refers to himself as "Chechen Samo," and is likely a hunter. He has also published noteworthy photographs.

This publication reports a crime, therefore, EcoNews.am invites the Environmental Department to take action.