On October 12, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Italians have favoured the Rossonsky forestry for woodcock hunting, as told to a BELTA correspondent by Alexander Karneenko, a hunting tourism engineer at the Vitebsk Regional Production Forestry Association (PLHO). According to him, 111 tours were organised for foreign citizens in the region's hunting grounds from January to September. As a rule, overseas guests arrive in groups of 3-5 people with pre-determined quarry species. Thus, the Rossonsky forestry has become a favourite spot for Italians to hunt woodcock, or Eurasian woodcock. On October 10, a group of five tourists left from here, bagging 45 birds. For the purpose of organising driven hunts for woodcock, which opened in Belarus on October 6, the guests brought English Setter hunting dogs with them. Within a month, three more groups of Italian citizens, who have already booked tours, will visit here for the same purpose. The hunting preferences of neighbouring Russians, who make up 90% of all foreign hunters, are concentrated on ungulates: elk, deer, wild boar, and roe deer. Germans also prefer hunting these same animals, with an emphasis on high trophy quality. They come to Belarusian forests specifically to return home with a trophy, so the gamekeepers and hunting experts select a suitable specimen of the forest dweller for them in advance. The interest of foreign citizens in photo hunting is also gradually increasing, which is more challenging than ordinary animal quarrying, noted the interviewee. Such tours were conducted in the Braslav and Lepel districts. Alexander Karneenko also spoke about the most popular hunting grounds of the PLHO among foreign citizens. The Rossonsky forestry firmly holds the leading position, the Lepel and Ushachi forestries share the second place, and the Disna forestry is in third place. From January to September 2012, 322 wild boars, 63 roe deer, 7 deer, 8 elk were hunted, and 20 beavers were trapped in the association's hunting grounds. The revenue from game quarrying amounted to Br2.6 billion. Revenue from foreign hunting tourism amounted to 94.2 thousand euros, which is 10% more compared to the same period last year. The Vitebsk Regional Production Forestry Association includes 15 forest hunting grounds. In total, there are 62 of them in the region. -0-

BELTA