Russian citizen Evgeny Shirokov shot and killed a Tien Shan brown bear, listed among endangered and protected species, during a hunt in the Tashkent region. At present, the population of Tien Shan brown bears in Uzbekistan does not exceed 500 animals, this variety belongs to one of the most vulnerable and rare subspecies of the brown bear.

This is not the first time when Russian hunter Evgeny Shirokov was seen killing animals in Uzbekistan, for the purpose of having fun. In December 2020, Shirokov, on his YouTube channel, showed himself hunting an argali, a mountain sheep protected in Uzbekistan and listed in the International List of Threatened Species.

Evgeny Shirokov is a member of the Russian VIP Club of Mountain Hunters, which organizes protected and endangered animals hunting.

This is not the first time Uzbek authorities have allowed deep-pocketed foreign tourists to kill rare animals in Uzbekistan. Thus, in November 2019, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s sons-in-law Oybek Tursunov and Otabek Umarov organised a hunting event for Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan and his entourage, during which endangered MacQueen’s bustards were hunted with falcons.

The political opposition movement “Erkin O’zbekiston” condemns the Uzbek authorities who allow the ruthless destruction of endangered animal species in Uzbekistan. We demand that the Uzbek authorities stop cruel and meaningless killings of endangered animal species in Uzbekistan.