Photos: "White Storks Have Turned Black" Residents Signal an Issue

For several days now, Shamshyan.com has been receiving numerous reports from residents of the village of Gay in the Armavir region, who have been stating that the storks that have built their nests in their village since the Soviet era are completely blackened.

On July 7, during a conversation with photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan, the villagers expressed their concerns saying, "For months, we only see blackened storks in the village, and the reason for this is the several fish farms operating in the area, which, by being careless and encroaching on nature, are likely dumping the remains of the fish into the rivers. We don’t know whom to turn to in order to solve this problem. The storks are being captured and washed, but these black marks do not go away. We have already memorized the storks, we even know their names. We have washed the stork named 'Zazo' only 2-3 times, yet the situation remains the same.

There are informative signs on the wooden electric poles in the village indicating to call a number in such cases, but when we call, there is no benefit. We have also approached several environmentalists, but there has been no assistance. They say, 'We can’t do anything.' If you can’t do anything, then why are your phone numbers on the signs? Why are you called environmentalists if you are powerless to help us?"

It remains for the Ministry of Environment to be diligent and enforce that the owners of these problematic fish farms bury their waste several meters underground rather than dumping it into the river.

The children also remarked, "In kindergarten and school, we are always told that the stork, which is white and beautiful, has brought you here, but we open our eyes to see a black stork instead."