Animals Society condemns protests against bp

President of the Azerbaijan Society for Protection of Animals Azer Qarayev has aired a strict protest against those 'who litter electronic mails with anonymous messages against bp', terming them as 'hot air' and 'incompetent statements'.

Incoming anonymous mails to bp sites call the company's efforts to save the Mediterranean tortoise 'the silliest move', as the authors believe there is no need to breed the species that is no longer a valuable one for Azerbaijan. Anonymous senders maintain it is high time this species were

taken out of the Red Data Book it once entered in the Soviet times.

The mails were coming after construction activities at Sangachal had caused temporary loss of habitat for tortoises and thus motivated bp to take on their first rehabilitation program in Azerbaijan.

Azer Qarayev, in response, states that the Mediterranean tortoise has been an endangered species in the IUCN Red Data Book. Mr. Qarayev denounced what he thought to be a non-ethic move that is unlikely to contribute to further expatriate valuation of Azeri fauna and flora.

A range of other NGOs have take up the voice of the ASPA, including

Teta Khazri NGO and Baku Ecology News.*