Iranian environmentalists concerned about the sharp decline of seal population in the Caspian region

Almaty. October 28. Silkroadnews - Iranian environmentalists urged the Caspian countries to take urgent measures to prevent the rapid decline of the population of seals in the Caspian sea to prevent their extinction in the future, informs the Iranian News Agency (IrTAG).
According to the specialist in veterinary medicine from Iran Amir Sayyad Shirazi, a sharp drop in the number of Caspian seals in recent years is due to anthropogenic impacts, among which he highlighted the active geological prospecting activities, poaching fish, seal hunt, water pollution in the Caspian sea​​, as well as climate change.
However Shirazi pointed to the gradual destruction of traditional breeding areas of these mammal species in the Caspian area, Russia and Turkmenistan.
Shirazi criticized the authorities of all five Caspian states (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan) for inadequate attention to the problem of the extinction of the seals and the threat of extinction of the local fauna.
Meanwhile, the head of the Department of Wildlife and Environmental northern province of Golestan Heyrabadi Waheed urged the authorities of Russia and Kazakhstan to abandon the practice of issuing permits for the hunting of Caspian seals.