The following pictures are part of an Italian advertising campaign to attract hunters to the Araratian Plain in Armenia to shoot birds. A few days ago we learnt that the following Italian firm “Ararat Safari” was promoting this picturesque area in the shadow of Mt. Ararat as an untapped resource for bird hunters overseas.

A group of concerned citizens here in Armenia have started to sound the alarm regarding this recent development and are taking steps to halt this joint Italian-Armenian venture. Ms. Ovsanna Hovsepyan is heading up this protest initiative. Those “Hetq” readers who wish to join this initasitive are urged to write to: [email protected].

Dear friends,

I feel a bit sad that we don't have the skills necessary to protect human lives in our country. Maybe
we can do better at protecting our flora and fauna.

The following is a site http://www.araratsafaris.com/caccia_alle_anatre.html that basically contains an invitation to a safari in Armenia, for hunting ducks, larks, rock partridges (the mammal you would hunt in Kyrgystan).

It appears, that Italians in these recent years have to find other territories than their own for hunting
because it was increasingly UN-COOL to hunt singing birds in Italy, and now, under European and Italian laws it became almost impossible. In former times every year hundreds of thousands (!) of songbirds were killed by Italian hunters.

Now guess where they want to go: to Armenia...

The whole thing comes along with tips which airlines to take, how to even bring in your own rifle and hunting dogs (!)

I got this information from an unknown person and as an Italian-speaking friend of mine was around. I asked him to explain the contents of the site, which he kindly did.

Here we go!! Take a few minutes of your precious time, sign the letter to the Ambassador of Italy and forward it to Ovsanna Hovsepyan, whose e-mail you'll find below. Also, start lobbying for a legislative initiative in the parliament about adopting the relevant laws for the protection of the animal life.