On June 20, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The police are conducting a check on the fact of cruel treatment of cormorants in the Chashniki district on Lake Lukomskoye, as reported to BELTA by the head of the Chashniki District Department of Internal Affairs, Mikhail Dyadichkin. The District Department of Internal Affairs received a statement from the local village council that dozens of cormorant chicks with their upper beaks cut off were found in a colony of cormorants and herons on Lake Lukomskoye. This formed the basis for the check. Initial investigative actions include identifying the circle of persons who may be involved in this incident. Currently, hunters and fishermen are being interviewed, and nearby settlements and fish farming enterprises are being investigated, the head of the District Department of Internal Affairs explained. He did not rule out that inquiries regarding this fact would also be sent to neighboring fish farms. Cormorants feed on fish and cause significant damage to fisheries. In this regard, the bird is classified as an undesirable species. The head of the District Department of Internal Affairs did not rule out that some fish farms or private tenants might accept parts of cormorant carcasses as proof of their shooting, and based on this, pay rewards to hunters. Ten days are allocated for conducting the check, after which the materials will be transferred to the Investigative Committee for legal assessment. In accordance with the legislation, cruel treatment of animals is punishable by administrative responsibility – a fine. According to police officers, currently, there are no more than two dozen chicks with cut-off upper beaks on the island. "The number of affected birds previously reported has been greatly exaggerated," believes the head of the District Department of Internal Affairs. The head of the Chashniki District Inspectorate of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, Yuri Chernousov, holds the same opinion. The head of the district inspectorate, along with representatives of the village council and police officers, participated in the examination of the colony where the birds were affected. In a conversation with a BELTA correspondent, he said that it is very difficult to give an exact number of injured chicks: they have not yet taken to the wing, but can already fly up to tall trees or jump into the water and swim away, so all counts are very approximate. However, he is also convinced that there are no grounds to talk about hundreds of affected birds.