We Took the Life and Made the Animal a Wall Decoration

The bodies of animals are emptied, and the eye sockets are filled with compressed plastic resembling the eyes of mammals or birds. This stage occurs after disinfecting and whitening the skull, horns, and skeleton of a hunted animal. Ultimately, a deer with long antlers and an elongated neck is glued to a wooden board and mounted on a wall designated for this taxidermied piece of the animal. This situation is not unique to Iran, but it has become more widespread recently, as evidenced by the discovery of several taxidermied foxes in a shop in Islamshahr in the past few weeks, alongside the recorded statistics of seized heads of bears and red deer, the complete body of a wild ram, a snowy owl, a peacock, and an immature boar, as well as several parrots from endangered species in Pardis County. These cases were seized by the same organization, according to Iman Memarian, a veterinarian at the Pardisan Wildlife Clinic in Tehran: 'This work is attractive to some, and in their view, it represents power and ability in hunting. They want to display the taxidermied animal to tell others that they have hunted an animal with beautiful and strong long antlers. In some countries, these animals are bred for this purpose, but in Iran, such hunting is illegal, and the buying and selling of wildlife is considered a crime.' According to Iman Memarian, the veterinarian who has closely monitored this process, legal proceedings against the holders of these taxidermies have begun: 'A court is formed, and the accused are asked for permits and licenses. If they do not have these documents, they are sued and fined.' The fines are uniform for skeletons, skins, or the complete carcass of the animal. However, what legal consequences can the possession of the carcasses of these beautiful and sometimes wild animals, which belong in the meadows and the limited nature and forests of Iran, have? Mohammad Hadi Heydarzadeh, the director-general of the Tehran Environmental Protection Agency, told the Mehr News Agency that, based on the latest resolution of the Supreme Council for Environmental Protection, the compensation amounts for each brown bear are 500 million rials, for a red deer 350 million rials, for wild rams and ewes 100 million rials, for species listed under CITES category one 30 million rials, and for category two 20 million rials. These amounts, according to Iman Memarian, start the accounting process once illegal hunting is proven: 'Fines have increased, and taxidermying a complete body with one member or parts of the animal will incur the same fine as a complete carcass.' Environmental protection agents in Tehran usually encounter live animals in such situations that are being kept in these places. Animals that are either awaiting taxidermy, being kept for illegal sale, or for breeding and reproduction. In one of these recent seizures, 30 peacocks and 90 types of parrots, many of which are endangered, were being transported and kept. Some of these birds had laid eggs, and some had fragile chicks that were dying due to transportation. Therefore, these native and non-native wild birds remain in place until their legal status is clarified. However, Iman Memarian says that the agents are seriously limited in this regard: 'It is still unclear in Iran which animals are permitted to be kept. In these places that the environmental agents have inspected, there have been other animals for which the law has not taken a clear stance, stating whether they should be seized, fined, or which are pets and have no issues.' The Tehran Bird Garden is a place for filling the pockets of investors. Even if the legal conditions for these birds and animals that are kept illegally become clear, this will not be the first or last time that a series of these animals, which should be released into nature, are kept in small home cages. What is the role of the Environmental Protection Organization in this regard? Ismail Kahrm, a university professor and researcher in the field of environment and ecosystems and an advisor to this organization in Tehran, states: 'We have laws regarding wildlife conservation, but some of these animals, like parrots and peacocks, are not considered wildlife. When wildlife is endangered, the Environmental Protection Organization intervenes when, for example, a wild bird of prey is sold in a cage on Molavi Street.' However, it is not only these places that have raised concerns among environmental and wildlife activists due to the illegal keeping of birds and animals or selling their skins and feathers or taxidermying them. There are places in Tehran and many cities that keep these wild animals and birds as gardens and parks. Places that, according to Ismail Kahrm, an advisor to the Environmental Protection Organization, are dangerous places that continue their work strongly and firmly. In the capital of Iran, there is a garden that has flourished significantly in recent years. A garden that claims to keep aquatic, tropical, predatory, and domestic birds, and people visit it to see or leave their birds there. A place that, according to Ismail Kahrm, has become a business, not a support for birds: 'Behind the establishment of the Tehran Bird Garden, the goal and desire was to establish a recreational, scientific, and research center, but all these goals have been lost, and the garden has turned into a commercial center where some are just filling their pockets.' Being sensitive about other creatures in our environment can improve our living conditions. Habitat destruction, littering, and factory wastewater being dumped into nature, and the killing and hunting of wildlife have inflicted severe blows to the biodiversity of the country. When diversity disappears, the cycle of life becomes incomplete, and its harm also reaches humans.