Squirrel day

Squirrel Day is a holiday celebrated by the international environmental community on March 15; the holiday is dedicated to the protection of young harp seal pups .

Belki has long been an object of hunting. The cruelty and economic senselessness of the white fishery became evident in the last century, thanks to the long-term work of the IFAW International Fund for the Protection of Animals.

On March 15, 2009, the IFAW International Fund for the Protection of Animals carried out the largest-scale campaign for the protection of seals in Russia - rallies were held in 25 cities that day under the single slogan “Do not hit the lying!” Demanding to stop the bloody and senseless fishing of young harp seals on the White Sea . The campaign went with unprecedented success.

Harp seal fishing up to one year old was banned on March 18, 2009. A major role was played by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Yuri Trutnev, who showed a firm determination to stop the bloody fishery, despite all attempts to save it from the fishing department.

IFAW Foundation for the first time initiated an international campaign to ban the hunting and trapping of calves in Canada in 1969. In Russia, this campaign was launched in 1995.

In 2009, also at the initiative of IFAW, Russian vessels began to bypass seal deposits in the White Sea so as not to injure them.