Environmentalists on the ostrich shot in the Varėna Forest: the decision was up to the owner himself

Following reports that an ostrich which had been wandering in the forests of the Varėna district was shot on Thursday, the Department of Environmental Protection (AAD) states that the final decision – whether to capture the animal or put it down – should have been made by its owner.

“Under point 60 of the Rules on the Use of Wild Animals, the person keeping the animal in captivity is obliged to recapture or kill the escaped animal as soon as possible, but no later than within one month. “In accordance with the rules, this is a decision for the person who kept the animal in captivity,” the department stated in its response to ELTA.

It is also added that, under the legislation in force in Lithuania, the exotic bird could have been hunted.

It had been “foraging” in the forests of Dzūkija since Sunday

A video showing a bird “mushroom-picking” in the Varėna district, in the vicinity of the village of Noškūnai, was shared on the social network “Facebook” by Gediminas Šakys.

“An ostrich in the Varėna forest. We came to go mushroom-picking, and here the ostriches are already at it. Well, come on, come on! I was expecting to come across a bear here – certainly not an ostrich,” the man wrote in his post, making no secret of his surprise.

Later, the news portal “15min” got in touch with the animal’s owner, Algis Patrušis. He told journalists that he had been raising sheep and African ostriches on his farmstead for many years.

As A. Patrušis explained, the exotic bird, captured on the mushroom picker’s video, had escaped from the farmstead’s grounds as early as Sunday.

The man from Dzūkija, who keeps a total of seven African ostriches on his farm, told “15min” said that catching such a bird alive would have been no easy task – apparently, you can’t grab it by the neck or take it home. Furthermore, as he emphasised, the animal running wild could have been dangerous. Therefore, as he explained, he had no qualms about allowing his son-in-law, a hunter, to shoot the bird.