Первый Байкальский
The Day of Young Seals Protection is celebrated on March 15 around the world. The date is celebrated on the initiative of the International Fund for Animal Welfare founded by Brian Davis in 1969. The Fund has managed to achieve a total ban on the commercial hunt for Greenland seals and their pups.
The Baikal ringed seal still officially remains a commercial species and is not even listed in the Red Book, but the hunt for it was officially banned in 1980. An annual quota for the industrial hunt of 50 animals has been established until 2009. The current number of ringed seals is estimated at about 130 animals. The issue of removing the ban on commercial and private hunt for Baikal seals is being debated nowadays.
Meanwhile, the public is actively opposed to the idea of ban removal.
Academician Okladnikov believed that the name of the Kika River (with the emphasis on the second syllable) was derived from the Turkic “green river”. This is the name of one of 336 rivers flowing into Lake Baikal.
Why should one remember about an ordinary hare - the animal with the nickname “squint-eye” that is considered a coward?
A specially protected natural monument of regional significance – “Anglichanka” Rock – is situat-ed in Selenginsky district of Buryatia. Now it is known as an observation deck with a picturesque view of the Selenga and Spassky Cathedral dated by the 18th century. However, in 1818-1841, Protestant preachers lived here. Key to Baikal explored how the life of the missionaries was con-nected with the rock, what kind of girl was wandering around it and what the London missionary society had to do with it.
The name of the valley originated from local “Bargut” which means “outskirts, wilderness”. It was a name of Mongolian tribe that used to inhabit the valley.
