[ad_1]
September 28 On the Facebook account of the social network, the Belarusian Border Guard Service shared a video showing a dead and tangled moose at the concert, and at the beginning of the recording does not forget to turn the camera towards the Lithuanian landmark.
In addition to the recording, the Belarusian border guards also shared a text saying that this was the fourth moose to become entangled in the concert and that it died as a result. According to them, the Belarusian services came to the rescue of the animal, but the efforts were unsuccessful and “the Lithuanian security forces were indifferent to the victim of the barriers they had built.”
This is not the first time that Belarusian officials have called a fence built by Lithuania a death trap for wild animals, but the Defense Ministry and the SBGS say they have not captured the animals involved in the concert.
Belarus does not comment on the reports.
Giedrius Mišutis, spokesman for the State Border Guard Service, says the Belarusian notification service is no longer commenting.
“We do not comment on the Belarusian reports. This would be the position of the entire service – not to react to the information they release”, – to the portal lrytas.lt says G. Mišutis. However, he adds that incidents at the newly built fence will not be prevented.
“Basically, what we, as a service, can also say is that a barrier has appeared and continues to appear there: a concert. Clearly, this is not an advantage for wildlife and wildlife migration. There will definitely be all kinds of events there. Here there is nature and it is an artificial barrier, it is a kind of interference with nature ”, the representative of the service does not hide.
The response prepared by the Nature Protection Policy Group of the Ministry of Defense establishes that both the Ministry of Defense itself and other institutions have received appeals from hunting organizations and citizens expressing their concern about the negative impact of the fence that is currently building on the border between Lithuania and Belarus on wildlife, but whether the animals have actually died in unison – it is unclear.
“We agree that there may be cases where wild animals are injured or even killed at the concert, but we do not yet have reliable data on such events that have actually taken place, they have not been registered with the Department of Environmental Protection.”
Information on wild animals that may have died at the border fence can be found in public space, social media, but as it is often prepared by Belarusian representatives, there are reasons to doubt the objectivity of this information, ”said the representatives. by Nature. Protection policy group.
The most important thing is the security of the state.
The SBGS representative assures that the damage caused to nature is mandatory to protect the border and state security:
“The main thing is that all these losses to nature are caused by the interest of the state, emerging threats and the situation that has been with Belarus for a month. The interest of the state, the importance of protecting the state border and its strengthening is more important. “
According to G. Mishutis, you have to choose between two evils and avoid the death of the beasts.
AM takes a similar position, adding that the actions are coordinated with hunting groups, which, if necessary, would end the suffering of the animals trapped in the concert hall. “The SBGS also strengthens cooperation with hunter organizations and border hunter groups in order to prevent illegal migration and, if necessary, end the suffering of an injured animal on a fence.”
Skipping is possible in the future
G.Mišutis points out that the fence will not be completely blind; Due to natural features, out of a total of 678 km, the concert hall will be built in a section of 508 km, leaving 170 km for animal migration. This is also the case for other EU countries fighting illegal immigration, according to a spokesperson for the service, and some countries have no borders at all.
“According to the natural characteristics of the walls, the barrier that is being built will not be such a uniform and uninterrupted object, so the migration of animals should not be interrupted. It does not make sense to make any kind of artificial passage, since this would immediately weaken the effectiveness of the concert as a barrier as an object of border protection. This would immediately become a meeting place for border violators, additional forces would be needed, etc. “, comments the representative.
However, in the future, according to AM, not only the passage but also the replacement of the concert hall with a fence that is less dangerous for animals is being considered.
“The Ministry of the Environment has drawn the attention of the Ministry of the Interior and the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) to the possible negative impact of the fence on wildlife, but so far a three-level concert is under construction to handle illegality migratory crisis.
In the future, it is planned to replace the concert hall with a fence with less impact on animals and to consider the possibility of carrying out crossings for wild animals ”.
Furthermore, according to them, there are more and greater threats to the life and health of wild animals in Lithuania than the construction of a fence at the border, one of which is the death of wild animals in car accidents.
