The Central Asian Tortoise (Agrionemys Horsfieldii Grey, 1844) in Uzbekistan: Species Conditions in the Region. Opinions

About the authors:

Georgiy Ya. Sorochinskiy, Director of the Zookompleks LLC (Tashkent, Uzbekistan); sorochin1956@hotmail.com

Marina A. Chirikova, Cand. Sci. (Biol.), Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan; m.chirikova@mail.ru

Zoya K. Brushko, Cand. Sci. (Biol.), Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Dmitriy A. Bondarenko, Cand. Sci. (Biol.), All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of the Nature Protection (Moscow); dmbonda@list.ru

Oleg I. Tsaruk, Expert of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Program Expert of Livestock. Environment, and Development FAO (Kiev region, Ukraine); o-ts@mail.ru

Abstract:

Dear readers and colleagues! A year ago our Journal published the article"Central Asian Tortoise (Agrionemys horsfieldii Grey, 1844) in Uzbekistan: Distribution, Abundance, Conservation Measures and Sustainable Use" by Artur S. Nuridjanov, Emilia V. Vashetko, Denis A. Nuridjanov and Timur V. Abduraupov (No. 1, 2016, pp. 132-140). This article touched a very topical issue about the status of this species in Uzbekistan, and has sparked a lively discussion among colleagues on the measures that are necessary to preserve the Central Asian turtle (e. g., including this species in the Red Book of the Republic of Uzbekistan) along with the continuation of its production in the region. In this critical review, we present the main opinions with minimal editorial revisions. We thank everybody who have agreed to publish their views on the problem here or sent their personal opinions and comments during the preparation of this material.

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