The fight against poaching in Trans-Baikal in 1920—1960
Denis N. Bespalko,Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor
Transbaikal State University, Chita, Russia, bespalkodenis84@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8957-0410
Abstract
Since its development by Russian explorers in the XVII century and up to the 1920s the Trans-Baikal Territory has not had any restrictions on seasonal hunting. The opening and closing of the hunting season, the amount of game caught, the produced fur and medicinal raw materials depended on the initiative of a single family or a hunting team. In the 1920, the norms of Soviet legislative practice were gradually introduced, designed to combat offenses and outright crimes in the field of seasonal harvesting of wildlife objects. However, until the 1960-s the effectiveness of anti-poaching measures and suppression of violations of hunting rules were at a low level. The central regulations of the Department of Hunting and Animal Husbandry were systematically violated by almost all categories of the population, both civilians and law enforcement officers along with the military. The reasons for this state of affairs were, on the one hand, rooted folk traditions, on the other hand, the remoteness of the region from the European part of the state, the sparsely populated vast territory and harsh living conditions.
Keywords
Soviet hunting legislation, hunting rules in the USSR, hunting season, offense, poaching, “taiga law”, hunting products.
For citation:
Bespalko D. N. The fight against poaching in Trans-Baikal in 1920—1960. Vestnik of Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic Scientific Journal, 2023, no. 1 (45), pp. 31—44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32516/2303-9922.2023.45.3.
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