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At the 13th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention) in the Indian city of Gandhinagar, 10 species were added to the list of protected animals.

The Bukhara Urial, a mountain sheep with its habitat and migratory range extending from the south of Iran and Afghanistan to the northern end of the Caspian Sea through the entire territory of Turkmenistan was introduced in Appendix 2, which includes migratory species. Small families constantly dwell on slopes of the Koytendag.

Another subspecies, the Ustyurt Urial, is found in the Great Balkhan and Kopetdag Mountains. The species has already been declared vulnerable. In Turkmenistan, like in other countries of the region, urial hunting is prohibited. Now the protection and conservation of the mountain sheep will be an issue on the regional and global agenda requiring the expansion of interstate cooperation.

The Asian elephant, jaguar, great Indian bustard, Bengal bustard, little bustard, Antipodes albatross and whitetip shark were added in Appendix 1, which contains threatened and endangered species of animals for which the strictest protection measures are outlined.

Summing up the session, Convention Executive Secretary Amy Frenkel emphasized that the decisions taken at the meeting will be an important contribution to the protection of wildlife”.

The Bonn Convention is the international and only multilateral agreement concluded as part of the United Nations Environment Programme. It aims to conserve wildlife and habitats on a global scale.

Altyn ASHIROVA