Almaty resident Anuar Isayev took a picture of wild mountain goats during a walk in the mountains of the Ile-Alatau National Park. According to him, the animals dug up garbage left by tourists and chewed plastic bags.
“I was lucky enough to meet a herd of Siberian mountain goats (tauteke) by the Witch’s Brook in the Terra clearing. However, I have witnessed that these beautiful animals, out of curiosity, dig into human garbage and eat harmful waste, including polyethylene. And there is more and more garbage in the mountains… ” – writes Anuar in the post.
In the conversation, Anuar said that before his eyes, one of the goats ate a plastic bag.
“I went to the mountains after the weekend. On Saturday, Sunday, a lot of people are walking there and, apparently, left garbage. Usually goats walk on the upper part of the mountains. But the most curious, apparently, went down to the place where tourists usually camp. Perhaps they are following the smell of food. Mountain goats were digging up packages left by tourists. In front of me, before my eyes, one of them ate a package.
In the post, the man also showed footage of garbage dumps in the mountains of the national park. He believes that if we want to live in an equal society with ideal conditions, it is worth observing the basic conditions of humanity.
“It may be a lack of knowledge, education or means, but a sane person always has a conscience and the opportunity to choose between bad and good. Vacationers do not take their garbage with them. In fact, passing the eco-post, we pay for the work of the rangers. According to the rules of the national park, people can only stay in specially designated places. However, tourists do not follow these rules – they set up camps where they want and leave their garbage where they have to, ” he added.
Correspondent of Tengriravel.kz has contacted the national park for comment. Kunaev Kuat, Deputy General Director of the Ile-Alatau State National Park, stressed that garbage remains a big problem of the national park.
“The video shows a Siberian mountain goat, young animals, broods of this year. It seems that the largest individual is the mother, the rest are children. In general, it is undesirable for tourists to walk in these places. The number of these animals increases every year. On the one hand, it is good that mountain goats are not afraid of people and feel calm. If they had sensed danger, they would have run away. This species has this ability: when the female feels danger or the climate is not the same, she stops the development of the fetus. And here they calmly walk, let people in. Perhaps the animals found and unearthed salt, so they started digging in the garbage. In general, these are very intelligent animals, they have a food base, they feed on their grass, mountain water, routes are established for them, we pour them the salt necessary for them. We have no drought, the water is clean. In general, it is clear that they are healthy, feel well, and are safe, ” he said.
Kunaev Kuat also spoke about the measures taken by the national park to solve the problem of garbage, and also expressed his opinion on how this issue can be solved.
“We have been trying to solve the problem of garbage for a long time. Ile-Alatau National Park constantly conducts explanatory work with visitors, we install information signs with requests not to litter, sometimes we distribute packages to tourists at the entrance, explain where and how to throw garbage. Recently, new garbage cans were installed, each one was signed so that the garbage was sorted. There are still those who throw it away, leave it behind.
We have brought 50 people to justice for garbage this year alone. The fine is 10 MCI. Now we have been given two new garbage trucks, they plan to give us two UAZs so that we can get to hard-to-reach places. Starting tomorrow, we are launching a monthly campaign “For tourism without an eco-trace”. During the month, the staff of the national park will collect garbage, conduct explanatory work.
We have foresters. Everyone has their own route. They keep order, clean up the garbage. This is a problem not only in our country, but all over the world. Sometimes it seems that it is better to make national parks inaccessible to people or to tighten the law. Many tourists drink alcoholic beverages, are rude to our employees when they ask them not to make noise, follow the rules, do not litter. They often answer us: “It’s your job to clean up the garbage. You get paid for it.” Perhaps it makes sense to prohibit drinking alcohol by law on the territory of national parks, ” he said.
Recall that since August 4, a ban on kindling bonfires has been in effect on the territory of the Ile-Alatau Park. This restriction was introduced due to a fire-hazardous situation. Violators will be fined. This was reported by the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan.
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