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War and Wildlife in Georgia
as published in the Conservation Hotline Department of Wildlife Conservation Magazine
Once overshadowed by the Soviet Union, Georgia is becoming recognized by westerners
for its rich cultural and biological diversity. Lying east of the Black Sea and
extending over the Caucasus Range, Georgia borders both Europe and Asia. Its mountains
are covered with oak, chestnut and lime forests. The region was once rich in wildlife
as well. Healthy numbers of Caucasian wolves, Jeiran's gazelles, hyenas, jackals,
lynxes, and leopards used to roam the mountains and plains, but large mammal
populations have plummeted since Georgia declared independence in 1989 and civil war
tore apart the country in the early '90s. Former weapons are now being used to hunt
wildlife in nature preserves. The situation is similar in other newly-independent republics of the former Soviet Union. Poaching and trophy hunting by foreigners, which often puts money in the pockets of the very people charged with protecting wildlife, has reduced the number of snow leopards, tigers and rare wild sheep in the central Asian republics of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, as well as in the Russian Far East. |
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In Georgia, a group of concerned scientists banded together to form Noah's Ark Center
for the Recovery of Endangered Species (NACRES). Among them is Jason Badridze, who has
studied Georgian wildlife for 15 years. He and his colleagues believe the only hope for
survival for many diminishing species is captive breeding and release. They are training
wolves reared in captivity to hunt and to avoid potentially dangerous humans. So far six
wolves -- two males and four females -- have been released. The scientists cannot afford radio-telemetry equipment, so they track the animals by following paw prints in the snow. They suspect the wolves have produced pups, but this has yet to be confirmed. |
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Tyka with Zula Gurielidge |
NACRES is fighting on the political front, too. In 1993, they pressured the government
to remove all bounties on predators. Last summer, they convinced President Shevardnadze
to order poachers out of a major national park and persuaded him to sign the CITES
treaty banning international trade in endangered species. Badridze says, "The improved
situation with Shevardnadze's crackdown on the paramilitary faction and his signature
on CITES should give a better basis for implementing real protection for Georgian
biodiversity."
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Comments to: Nancy March 16, 1997
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