MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia has said it had banned the hunting of baby seals, weeks after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called it a "bloody industry".
"The bloody sight of the hunting of seals, the slaughter of these defenseless animals, which you cannot even call a real hunt, is banned in our country, just as well as in most developed countries, and is a serious step to protect the biodiversity of the Russian Federation," the minister for natural resources, Yury Trutnev, said in a statement.
Seals inhabit Russia's White Sea region in the Arctic. As in Canada and Norway, hunters target the fluffy baby seals -- also known as "whitecoats" for their highly valued snow-white fur -- in early spring and club thousands to death.
Protests urging a halt to hunting of baby seals took place in 20 cities and towns across Russia this week. On February 27, state-owned "Rossiiskaya gazeta" quoted Putin as saying, "This is a bloody business and it's clear that it needs to be stopped." He said hunters should be compensated for lost earnings.
"The bloody sight of the hunting of seals, the slaughter of these defenseless animals, which you cannot even call a real hunt, is banned in our country, just as well as in most developed countries, and is a serious step to protect the biodiversity of the Russian Federation," the minister for natural resources, Yury Trutnev, said in a statement.
Seals inhabit Russia's White Sea region in the Arctic. As in Canada and Norway, hunters target the fluffy baby seals -- also known as "whitecoats" for their highly valued snow-white fur -- in early spring and club thousands to death.
Protests urging a halt to hunting of baby seals took place in 20 cities and towns across Russia this week. On February 27, state-owned "Rossiiskaya gazeta" quoted Putin as saying, "This is a bloody business and it's clear that it needs to be stopped." He said hunters should be compensated for lost earnings.
