A criminal case has been opened in the Rostov region regarding the mass death of wild animals in fields due to rodent poison.

NotMoscow Wrote that in December and January Rostov region Wild hares have died en masse due to poisoning by agricultural toxins.

How to сообщил Kommersant-South Chairman of the Board Rostov City Society of Hunters and Fishermen Andrey Zhishchenko, Investigative Committee of the Rostov Region A criminal case was opened under Article 246 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Violation of environmental protection rules during work"); the punishment is up to five years' imprisonment.

Before the trial appear an agronomist of an agricultural production cooperative from Kagalnitsky district RO: According to investigators, to control rodents, he placed poisoned bait in the fields, not in burrows or special bait boxes, but left them on the surface, which caused the death of the animals – 19 hares and two pheasants.

"In fact, there are more animals affected. The extent of the population decline will be determined in February, when the annual census is conducted. It's important to understand that poisoning occurs along a chain—from small rodents to those animals that may consume them, such as cats and dogs.", says Andrey Zhishchenko.

"The situation is particularly bad because the owners do whatever they want in their fields. In Soviet times, the plant protection station knew exactly how much of each chemical was used in each region—it was publicly available. Now, no one can know what's going on in the fields: it's entirely possible that, to save money, farmers don't buy ready-made baits made according to the technology, but make their own. How much of what do they put in? According to the technology, or something stronger, just in case? No one knows."- сказал In an interview NotMoscow Deputy Director for Science of the Rostovsky State Nature Biosphere Reserve Alexander Lipkovich.