Recently Raptor-link was informed by an anonymous source about the= capture of two Gyrfalcons and their subsequent removal from the wild. The= Gyrfalcons were captured on the Okhotsk Sea Coastal flyway near Magadan in= summer 1994 and were possibly individuals from Alaskan population. The= Gyrfalcons were captured under a legal permit issued by the Ministry of= Ecology of Russia and registered at the Magadan District Committee of the= Ministry of Ecology. The permission itself was signed by the Russian CITES= official at the Ministry of Ecology. The purpose was stated as "breeding in= captivity". The organisation to whom the permits were issued was the= Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. Has anyone ever= seen Gyrfalcons in the Kremlin or ever observed Mr. Yeltsin to breed= falcons? (Perhaps one day he might even subscribe to Raptor-link.) This small incident shows the level of corruption in Moscow. Private= breeders have to pay enormous bribes for permits to breed falcons or must= conceal their activities while some crooks in the Kremlin, in collaboration= with top officials from the Ministry of Ecology, cover up the unnecessary= removal of birds from the wild. We by no means believe that the permit was= issued for true captive breeding. Mr. Yeltsin can hardly spare time for= such activities as he is busy either in the hospital or preparing his= re-election campaign as a President. In any case, according to the= Constitution the duties of the Administration of the President do not= include falcon-breeding. Will the taxpayers approve of the President's (or= one of his aid's) joy of falcon-breeding? And where he breeds the birds? At= the mausoleum or in a shed at the Red Square? I have had some response from Moscow on the matter. Igor Chestin and Alexey Vaisman from TRAFFIC-Russia wrote: "We enquired in the Ministry of Ecology about the falcons for "Mr.= Yeltsin's captivity breeding programme". President expected some important= visit and wanted to present 2 Gyrfalcons for captive breeding (as You= probably know, Gyrfalcons are not used for hunting themselves, only their= hybrids). Mr. Victor Chernomyrdin (the Prime Minister) was going to visit= UAE and wanted himself to present gyrs to sheikhs. They would then breed= them hybridising with Saker (Falco cherrug). The person who actually= captured falcons works for the Moscow Zoo and is specialising in falcon= breeding. Two falcons were captured in Magadan oblast and then brought to= Moscow. However, falcons were not allowed by Russian CITES authorities for= export and therefore are still in Moscow Zoo, where everybody can enjoy= them. Now there is a discussion on what to do with the birds, one of the= options considered is to give them to the breeding centre of VNIIpriroda= (A. Sorokin). Apparently. we do have tremendous problems with Russian Customs= Service. These people do not recognise any NGOs at all including TRAFFIC. I= did provide them a lot of information on organised crime in wildlife trade,= but still have no response respond. For example, I gave the surnames,= addresses etc. of people who are smuggling bear gall bladders in the= parcels of reindeer antlers. No response. I informed customs about the= case, when polar bear skin and walruses ivory were confiscated from= American fishermen in Magadan with no official documents permission. No= response.=20 Currently the WWF Russian Programme has received a grant from Swiss= Government to do something on illegal wildlife trade in Russia. This is= about 110,000 USD per year for 3 years. I am [Igor Chestin] the principal= coordinator of the project, but even though I am quite reluctant to be opti= mistic. You can reach TRAFFIC Europe-Russia, fax number is +7-095-264-99-27 in= Moscow; e-mail: [log in to unmask]" This information will indeed raise some new questions about the= state of corruption in Moscow. This situation has demonstrated the absurd= of the authorities, just look: 1. Russians pay taxes and would like to preserve their Nature and= Biodiversity. They pay the taxes. 2. Ministry of Ecology and Nature Resources protects the Nature and= Biodiversity for Russians. 3. The Ministry understands that Gyrfalcon is endangered species (as= it should according the CITES regulations) 4. Yeltsin wants to get two birds from the wild for captive breeding= (with no breeding facilities in Kremlin). 5. Yeltsin wants the breeding to take place in Arab countries. 6. The offsprings of the proposed cross (Gyr+Saker) will not serve= for protection of the Red Data book species. Captive propagation is out of= the question. 7. Administration of the President sends a highly skilled breeder to= Magadan to capture the falcons. Russian taxpayers pay for the venture. 8. Ministry of Ecology authorises the action (at the taxpayers= expense, of course). If the stated above is a crime, it is really well organised on the= highest possible level. WHEN THIS IDIOTISM WILL STOP??????? I will appreciate more comments on the matter. Raptor-link is a quarterly bilingual newsletter on Russian birds of Prey and= Owls. You can contact Raptor-link via e-mail: [log in to unmask]