A Russian citizen has been ordered to pay a 46,000 euro fine in Belarus for illegally shooting a European bison 11 years ago, according to the Republican Prosecutor's Office.
The monetary penalty follows a prolonged legal effort by Belarusian prosecutors to collect compensation from the hunter after he took part in an illegal hunt in December 2015.
During that trip to Pripyatsky National Park, the man unlawfully harvested a bison. Prosecutors subsequently brought a civil lawsuit against him, seeking five times the official price of a bison hunting permit to compensate the national park for the loss of the animal.
Court Ruling and Non-Payment
Despite the original claim, the defendant failed to pay the mandated costs for the killed bison over the course of several years. As a result, the prosecutor's office re-applied to the court to enforce the financial recovery.
Court authorities properly served the Russian citizen with notice regarding the date, time, and location of the civil court hearing. In response, the man submitted a written notification stating that he disputed the prosecutor's financial claims, but he chose not to attend the court session in person.
The court ruled entirely in favour of the prosecutor's office and granted the full recovery demand of 46,000 euros. The final judgement reflected adjustment calculations based on the national currency redenomination that took place in Belarus following the original hunting incident.
Protected Reserve and Wildlife Laws
Pripyatsky National Park, situated in southern Belarus within the floodplain of the Pripyat River, is a state-managed reserve known for its extensive marshes, forests, and protected wildlife populations. The European bison, also known as the wisent, is the largest surviving wild land mammal in Europe and holds strict conservation protection status under Belarusian law.
The source also highlighted another recent hunting incident in Russia, where a 42-year-old hunter in the Kemerovo region opened fire on a 17-year-old resident after mistaking the youth for a wild animal.
