Animal imports banned to protect local species

By Annette Chrysostomou

THE government has banned the importation of certain species of animals in a bid to protect the island’s biodiversity, it was announced on Thursday.

“Studies carried out by the game and fauna service showed that some kinds of partridges and black francolin imported from abroad were different subspecies, which poses a serious risk of genetic contamination of local populations with incalculable consequences for native species,” an official announcement said.

The ban covers certain partridges (Alectoris spp. – Alectoris chukar, Alectoris rufa, Alectoris, barbara, Alectoris philbyi), francolins (Francolinus francolinus), hares (Lepus europaeus), mouflons (Ovis orientalis, Ovis gmelini, Ovis musimon, Ovis ammon), raccoons (Procyon lotor), opossums (Didelphis virginiana, and Trichosurus vulpecula) and badgers (Meles meles and Memphitis memphitis).

Conservationists welcomed the move.

“This is a positive development to restrict genetic contamination. Alien species can be the cause of great environmental damage, especially on islands. So, this is good practice,” BirdLife Cyprus spokesperson Natalie Stylianou said. “There have already been records of some raccoons on the island.”

The ban also includes ownership, sale, breeding, and releasing them into the wild.

Those who already own any of the species can obtain a temporary license to keep them until their natural death.

Alternatively, owners may be exempted through a special arrangement with the Centre of Care and Rehabilitation of Wildlife Office or they can re-export them to other countries.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.