In the Investigative Department of the TFR for the Stavropol Territory, a criminal case was initiated on the fact of violation of the rules established for the fight against diseases and pests of plants, which negligently entailed grave consequences (part 2 of article 249 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
The case was initiated after residents discovered a place of mass death of birds near the Dundinskoye reservoir in the Apanasenkovsky district on February 1.
According to the investigation, among the dead birds there are more than a thousand mallard ducks, at least 260 white swans and 20 white-fronted geese, as well as at least a dozen gulls. In total, according to the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations, which took part in the collection of dead birds, about 3 thousand dead birds were taken out of the area of the Dundinskoye reservoir.
Conducted chemical-toxicological studies showed that the birds again died from poison containing organophosphorus compounds. As clarified in the press service of the Stavropol department of the TFR, the investigation has already established that in February of this year, “in case of non-compliance with the technology for the use of the drug used to control rodents,” the poison was spread on the soil surface, “resulting in serious consequences for the environment in the form of a mass death of wild birds, as a result of which damage was caused to the state.
In the prosecutor’s office of the Apanasenkovsky district, the decision to initiate a criminal case was recognized as legal and justified. The course of the investigation is under the control of the supervisory authority.
At the end of 2022, in the Stavropol Territory, mass deaths of representatives of the animal world were already recorded, including those listed in the Red Book of common cranes. According to preliminary information, they died due to poisoned bait – banned zinc phosphide, which local farmers scattered in the fields to control mice.
On the fact of the mass death of birds, two criminal cases are being investigated on violation of the rules for the use of chemicals, which led to serious consequences.