The Russians again took animals from the reserve “Askania-Nova” to Crimea and the Russian Federation

The Russians took seven individuals of rare animal species from “Ascania-Nova” to the Rostov region.

The Russians once again intend to remove animals from the “Askania-Nova” biosphere reserve in the occupied part of the Kherson region.

Director of the Biosphere Reserve “Askania-Nova” Viktor Shapoval said that “Askania-Nova” was visited by Oleg Zubkov, a Crimean businessman, the owner of the Taigan lion park and the Yalta zoo “Kazka”, which serves the Russians.

“To date, animals have not been exported to Crimean zoos, but to the territory of the Rostov region – to the Rostov Zoo and the Rostov Association for the Preservation of Rare Species of Animals. These agreements were signed by Meshcheryakov (the Russian leader) in July 2023, but the fact of the export itself took place only at the end of November – at the beginning of December 2023,” says the legitimate director of “Ascania-Nova”. He did not specify which species of animals are in question.

According to his information, the Russians took seven individuals from Askania-Nova, including species listed in the CITES International Convention, which regulates international trade in endangered species of wild fauna.

Three individuals of gray Ukrainian cattle (a breed of meat-dairy cattle, a type of gray steppe breed of southeastern Europe) were taken from Askania-Nova to the Russian-controlled Crimean zoo “Taigan”. The breed is a natural Ukrainian gene pool object , which is on the verge of extinction, has been granted the status of the first category of protection).

At the end of March 2023, Russian troops seized the reserve “Askania-Nova”. Since then, the further preservation of the nature protection, research institution of international importance does not depend on the Ukrainian administration.