“Preventive”/”Diagnostic” Shooting
On May 31, 2006 the press office of the Rosselkhoznadzor (Russian
Agriculture Oversight Agency) office for Tyumen Province and the
Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Districts (in western Siberia)
announced that the shooting of wild birds in Tyumen Province had been
halted and all the special team members had surrendered their permits.
During the campaign to shoot wild birds flying over the province, 962
teams of hunters shot a total of 13,549 birds, including 6,879 that were
destroyed and disposed of and 113 that were sent to Rosselkhoznadzor for
testing. As of 31 May, no cases of avian flu had been reported in the
territory. According to a Rosselkhoznadzor spokesperson, specialists
from the provincial wildlife management department planned to continue
monitoring the avian flu situation in the province.
source: RIA Novosti (Novosti Russian News Agency), May 31, 2006.