Ecocide of the animal world: concept, issues, methodology

Abstract

Abstract. The article examines the theoretical, methodological, and legal aspects of establishing signs of ecocide of the animal world in the context of modern military conflicts. It analyses current regulatory and legal approaches to the interpretation of ecocide and identifies their lack of specificity in defining the criteria for mass destruction of fauna. The need to improve scientific approaches to the identification of zoocide, taking into account the multi-level organisation of biological systems — from the population to the ecosystem and spatial-administrative levels — is substantiated. It has been established that the absence of clear quan- titative and territorial parameters complicates the criminal law classification of offences against the animal world and reduces the effectiveness of law enforcement practice. A differentiated approach to assessing damage to faunal complexes depending on the scale of losses, the degree of disruption of ecosystem links and the possibilities for population recovery is proposed, which should be taken into account when developing mechanisms of responsibility for ecocide. The authors emphasise the inappropriateness of excessive globalisation of the concept of ‘ecocide’ to the national level, as this complicates the recording of local but ecologically critical cases of mass destruction of animals. The results obtained can be used to improve national environmental and criminal legislation, environmental assessment methodologies, and practices for investigating environmental offences. In a scientific context, the authors propose to consider the mass destruction of wild animals as the unlawful extermination of a significant number of individuals belonging to one or more taxonomic categories within a specifically defined territory or water area. The criterion for such destruction is when the mortality rate of animals exceeds the average annual natural mortality rate by at least three times, or when a situation arises in which at least one taxonomic category is under a real threat of extinction within one or more administrative-territorial units. This approach ensures scientific validity, legal certainty and uniformity in the assessment of environmental damage, which is important for the further application of the results in law enforcement and expert environmental practice.