Court blocks tender for red deer hunt

BOLU

A court in the northwestern province of Bolu has issued a stay of execution upon an appeal by the Turkish Vegan Association regarding a tender opened by the regional directorate of Agriculture and Forestry Ministry that would have allowed the hunting of 15 red deer.

In the decision reminding that the tender was opened by the ministry in 2021, the court stated that survey-inventory studies conducted in 2019 on the dynamics of the red deer population in the hunting grounds within the borders of Bolu were insufficient.

The decision underlined that concrete and scientific data on “hunting for the continuation of the red deer population,” one of the reasons for hunting red deer that is among the protected fauna species in the Bern Convention, could not be submitted to the file.

Last year, a tender opened by the ministry that would have allowed the hunting of endangered wild mountain goats in the eastern province of Tunceli was canceled, as it drew massive anger from NGOs and animal rights activists.