The Natural Resources Ministry said Wednesday that it had banned the hunting of baby harp seals, weeks after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called it a "bloody industry."
"The bloody sight of the hunting of seals, the slaughter of these defenseless animals, which you cannot even call a real hunt, is banned in our country, just as well as in most developed countries, and is a serious step to protect the biodiversity of the Russian Federation," Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev said in a statement.
Seals inhabit Russia's White Sea region in the Arctic. Protests urging a halt to hunting of baby seals took place in 20 cities and towns across Russia this week. On Feb. 27, government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta quoted Putin as saying, "This is a bloody business, and it's clear that it needs to be stopped."
He said hunters should be compensated for lost earnings.
President Dmitry Medvedev was swept up in a minor seal fur scandal in November 2007, when the Krasnoyarsk television channel TVK reported that Medvedev -- then first deputy prime minister -- bought a coat made from the fur of seal pups from a local shop for 500,000 rubles ($14,500). The report was widely circulated by Russian online news portals and sparked heated debates in the country's blogosphere.
In April, following Medvedev's election, Komsomolskaya Pravda published a statement from the Kremlin press service stating that neither Medvedev nor any members of his family had ever purchased any items made from harp seals.
(Reuters, MT)
Correction: An earlier version of this article published on www.themoscowtimes.com on March 18, 2009 contained incorrect information regarding Canada's policy on the hunting of baby harp seals. It was stated that the practice is legal in Canada, while in fact it is not.
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