The sharp-eared moth interested the center of R. Lugar in Georgia
The State Security Committee of South Ossetia reported on Thursday that a citizen of Georgia, detained on July 3 in the vicinity of the settlement of Adzysar of the Tskhinval distruct for violating the regime of the State border by the border guard squad of the KGB of the Republic, during the investigative measures, told about the reasons for his transition to the territory of the Republic.
"In the course of carrying out operational and investigative measures, it was established that he is a native of the settlement of Medzhvriskhevi, Gori municipality, Mgebrishvili Khvicha Avtandilovich, born in 1973. Referring to the reasons for his transition to the territory of South Ossetia, Mgebrishvili Kh.A. explained to the officers of the KGB border guards of the RSO, that the main subject of his interest in South Ossetia were the colonies of bats located in the villages of Artseu and Grom in the Tskhinval district, "the message says.
According to Mgebrishvili, he intended to get the so-called. "Bat cocoons", for subsequent sale in Georgia at a price of USD 5,000 per piece.
“Regarding the testimony of Kh.A. Mgebrishvili, it is necessary to clarify that the bats living in the Republic of South Ossetia - Pointed-eared bat, like the rest of the bats, are viviparous and do not build any nests, cocoons and other shelters. At the same time, there is an increased interest in the population of South Ossetian bats mice, since 2012, has been showing the so-called. R. Lugar "Center for Public Health ", - the committee has noted.
The report says that according to open data in 2012, 2014 and 2018, laboratory staff, as part of projects funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency of the US Department of Defense (DTRA) and the American Center for Disease Control (CDC), carried out systematic catching of bats in the Georgian region. Shida Kartli, bordering South Ossetia.
"In 2018, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), together with the Lugar Center, as a field laboratory, is implementing a US $ 2.9 million project on bats and coronaviruses. The program is designed for 5 years and is implemented with the help of NGOs" Eco Health Alliance ".
The goals of the project are:
1. Capture and non-lethal sampling over a 5-year period (2018-2023) 5,000 bats;
2. Collecting 20,000 samples (ie oral, rectal swabs and / or feces, as well as blood) and conducting laboratory tests in Georgia and Jordan, "the committee said.
The report states that as of 2018, the NGO Eco Health Alliance selected 270 bats of 9 species in three countries of Western Asia: 90 individual bats in Turkey (August 2018), Georgia (September 2018) and Jordan (October 2018).
In this regard, the KGB of the Republic of South Ossetia emphasizes that the bat, Myotis blythi, inhabiting the territory of South Ossetia, is listed in the Red Book of the Republic of South Ossetia.
Thus, any cross-border activity related to its extraction and illegal movement outside the Republic is qualified in accordance with Articles 258.1 and 226.1 of the Criminal Code and entails a corresponding criminal penalty in the form of imprisonment.
At the same time, the State Security Committee of the Republic of South Ossetia reminds that all possible directions of penetration of violators of the state border are in the control zones and sectors of influence of the border forces of South Ossetia.
