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ARMENIAN MP KEEPS ENDANGERED SIBERIAN TIGERS AS PETS: 'THOSE IN THE WILD WOULD BE JEALOUS'
Grisha Balasanyan
11:25, February 4, 2015
It's sort of become a fashion craze for the ultra rich and top
officials in Armenia to "domesticate" wild animals and keep them at
their restaurants and hotels as attractions.
Some, as the case throughout the world, keep wild animals at home
as pets.
We know that Prosperous Armenia party leader and MP Gagik Tsarukyan
has created a veritable mini-zoo, including lions and tigers, at his
sprawling home. MP Manvel Grigoryan keeps ostriches and tigers as
pets. MP Moushegh Petoyan has a pet bear.
Prosperous Armenia MP Rouben Gevorgyan, following in the footsteps
of his illustrious deader, also keeps a number of wild animals at home.
The legislator doesn't conceal the fact and often posts photos of
the animals on the internet.
"Every person, I would say, has enjoyed keeping a pet from an early
age. Be it a dog or cat. Later, at a certain age, they keep pedigree
dogs, a trait which I believe characteristic of us Armenians,"
Gevorgyan told Hetq.
The MP argues that the conception of 'wild' animals is a wide one,
encompassing wolves and others. The animals he keeps at home are
Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), also known as the Amur
tigers.
The tigers are included on CITES Appendix Ibanning international
trade. All tiger range states and countries with consumer markets
have banned domestic trade as well. At last count, there are said to
be some 340 Siberian tigers in the wild.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (CITES) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered
plants and animals. Appendix I includes some 1200 species that are
threatened with extinction and are or may be affected by trade.
Commercial trade in wild-caught specimens of these species is illegal
(permitted only in exceptional licensed circumstances).
"If they cannot multiply in their homeland, I am seriously interested
in breeding them here. And my efforts have succeeded. I have already
raised a third generation. Even the Russian association headed by
President Putin knows about this," said Gevorgyan, referring to a
Russian organization engaged in preserving the Amur tiger.
MP Gevorgyan says nine tiger cubs have been born under his watch and
that the Russian environmentalists were amazed at the result.
Gevorgyan says they periodically come to Armenia to check on the
tigers.
Gevorgyan now keeps six tigers at his enclosure. He gave the others
as gifts to friends. One went to Gagik Tsarukyan.
Gevorgyan says he only gives the valuable tigers to people who can
properly take care of them.
The MP says he received the tigers five years ago from Russia and that
the paperwork is in order. When this reporter asked if keeping wild
animals in captivity isn't in violation of international treaties
signed by Armenia regarding animal rights, Gevorgyan replied that
tigers in the wild would be jealous of the lifestyle of the tigers
in his care.
"They have a large swimming pool in which to bathe. They drink clean
water like we do. They have large tree limbs on which to sharpen their
claws. All the facilities equal to nature have been created. You
cannot call their enclosures cages. They measure 50 meters long by
15 meters wide," said Gevorgyan.
Gevorgyan went on to argue that the Siberian tigers are a fickle
animal and can't reproduce in their native environment and that's
why they are disappearing. "In the climatic conditions of Armenia,
however, they have been multiplying," he noted.
Gevorgyan claims he isn't following a fad by keeping the tigers,
and that in addition to loving and doting over them, he keeps the
tigers to breed them.
"I do not sell the tigers, nor can I give them to people who cannot
take care of them. Harming or killing the tigers is a crime," said
Gevorgyan.
The MP told me that he had kept a valuable lion for five years and he
then gave it as a present to Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan three
years ago. Sahakyan, in turn, donated the lion to theGandzasar Zoo
in the village of Vank.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/58389/armenian-mp-keeps-endangered-siberian-tigers-as-pets-those-in-the-wild-would-be-jealous.html
Grisha Balasanyan
11:25, February 4, 2015
It's sort of become a fashion craze for the ultra rich and top
officials in Armenia to "domesticate" wild animals and keep them at
their restaurants and hotels as attractions.
Some, as the case throughout the world, keep wild animals at home
as pets.
We know that Prosperous Armenia party leader and MP Gagik Tsarukyan
has created a veritable mini-zoo, including lions and tigers, at his
sprawling home. MP Manvel Grigoryan keeps ostriches and tigers as
pets. MP Moushegh Petoyan has a pet bear.
Prosperous Armenia MP Rouben Gevorgyan, following in the footsteps
of his illustrious deader, also keeps a number of wild animals at home.
The legislator doesn't conceal the fact and often posts photos of
the animals on the internet.
"Every person, I would say, has enjoyed keeping a pet from an early
age. Be it a dog or cat. Later, at a certain age, they keep pedigree
dogs, a trait which I believe characteristic of us Armenians,"
Gevorgyan told Hetq.
The MP argues that the conception of 'wild' animals is a wide one,
encompassing wolves and others. The animals he keeps at home are
Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica), also known as the Amur
tigers.
The tigers are included on CITES Appendix Ibanning international
trade. All tiger range states and countries with consumer markets
have banned domestic trade as well. At last count, there are said to
be some 340 Siberian tigers in the wild.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (CITES) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered
plants and animals. Appendix I includes some 1200 species that are
threatened with extinction and are or may be affected by trade.
Commercial trade in wild-caught specimens of these species is illegal
(permitted only in exceptional licensed circumstances).
"If they cannot multiply in their homeland, I am seriously interested
in breeding them here. And my efforts have succeeded. I have already
raised a third generation. Even the Russian association headed by
President Putin knows about this," said Gevorgyan, referring to a
Russian organization engaged in preserving the Amur tiger.
MP Gevorgyan says nine tiger cubs have been born under his watch and
that the Russian environmentalists were amazed at the result.
Gevorgyan says they periodically come to Armenia to check on the
tigers.
Gevorgyan now keeps six tigers at his enclosure. He gave the others
as gifts to friends. One went to Gagik Tsarukyan.
Gevorgyan says he only gives the valuable tigers to people who can
properly take care of them.
The MP says he received the tigers five years ago from Russia and that
the paperwork is in order. When this reporter asked if keeping wild
animals in captivity isn't in violation of international treaties
signed by Armenia regarding animal rights, Gevorgyan replied that
tigers in the wild would be jealous of the lifestyle of the tigers
in his care.
"They have a large swimming pool in which to bathe. They drink clean
water like we do. They have large tree limbs on which to sharpen their
claws. All the facilities equal to nature have been created. You
cannot call their enclosures cages. They measure 50 meters long by
15 meters wide," said Gevorgyan.
Gevorgyan went on to argue that the Siberian tigers are a fickle
animal and can't reproduce in their native environment and that's
why they are disappearing. "In the climatic conditions of Armenia,
however, they have been multiplying," he noted.
Gevorgyan claims he isn't following a fad by keeping the tigers,
and that in addition to loving and doting over them, he keeps the
tigers to breed them.
"I do not sell the tigers, nor can I give them to people who cannot
take care of them. Harming or killing the tigers is a crime," said
Gevorgyan.
The MP told me that he had kept a valuable lion for five years and he
then gave it as a present to Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan three
years ago. Sahakyan, in turn, donated the lion to theGandzasar Zoo
in the village of Vank.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/58389/armenian-mp-keeps-endangered-siberian-tigers-as-pets-those-in-the-wild-would-be-jealous.html