holidays life story education busy
15 March - Thursday
World Consumer Rights Day
International Day of Action for the Seals
Belki - young harp seal - have been hunting for many decades, primarily because of their fine fur. It is the demand for this fur, often dictated by fashion trends, and not a pressing need, pushes a person to destroy these animals in huge numbers. A few years ago it could be legally sold in Europe, Russia, China and many other countries.
Greenland seals are found in the North Atlantic, White, Barents, Kara and Greenland seas. Eleven months of the seal bear the baby, and in the spring adult females and males for a few weeks rise on the ice from the sea to there appeared their offspring - charming and defenseless belka.
About two weeks after birth, while the female feeds milk, the fur of the belka remains snow-white. It is because of this fur, tens of thousands of whites each year, and die, and their murder is very cruel: they are killed by death with iron cudgels. By cruelty, barbarity and the number of murders, this fishery has no equal. By the end of the 20th century, commercial hunting for young Harp seal pups had placed this species of animals on the brink of extinction.
One of the first to oppose the extermination of the whites was the International Fund for the Protection of Animals IFAW, which attracted wide public attention to this problem. More and more people joined the defenders, who could not indifferent to the barbarous and senseless fishing. Annually in March around the world thousands of demonstrations and pickets were organized. Thanks to this active activity, the authorities of many countries of the world were forced to take economic measures that made the fishing of whitened bears unprofitable. And since 1986, the import and sale of furs in the US, Mexico and Europe has been completely banned. Today, in the EU countries even the appearance in public places in outer clothing of fur belka is considered a sign of bad taste.
Despite all this, in Russia only in 2009, through the efforts of the public and international environmental organizations, the Government of the Russian Federation imposed a ban on the hunting of squirrels. This happened, thanks, among other things, to participation in the protest of famous people of Russia - artists, musicians, directors, academicians, journalists, athletes ...
However, even today the fishing of squirrels continues - such a massive and inhumane killing of a young seal is not prohibited in Canada, Namibia and Norway. But the world community continues to struggle. In August 2010, the EU imposed a ban on the sale of all kinds of seal products, which makes it illegal to trade any products from seals produced as a result of all commercial catches. IFAW expects this to put an end to the seal fisheries in these countries.
On March 15, on the International Day for the Protection of the Proteins, in many countries various actions, demonstrations and pickets against the killing of these animals take place. The Russian public and numerous environmental organizations carry out all sorts of activities around the country in defense of the fleeces and in order to attract public attention to this issue - children's drawings, photo exhibitions, demonstrations, flash mobs, etc. But in Russia there is an open hunting for 4 more species of seals: Caspian seal, Baikal seal, Ringed seal, Sea seal ...