(12 February 2026 | Source: Hronika.kz)
In Shymkent, a court found a man guilty of illegally storing deer antlers. The damage to nature was estimated at nearly 3 billion tenge, the defendant was sentenced to imprisonment and ordered to pay court costs.
THE ESSENCE OF THE CASE
According to Hronika.kz, a man born in 1982 was found guilty by the court under Part 4 of Article 339-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Illegal handling of parts or derivatives of rare animals on an especially large scale"). According to the investigation, he formed a group with an unidentified person to acquire and store deer antlers.
On 15 April 2025, the defendant, according to the investigation, purchased and stored 1,977 antlers in 12 sacks on the premises of his home. The storage areas containing the antlers were discovered by police on 2 July 2025, after which criminal proceedings were initiated against the man.
The accused himself claimed that friends and acquaintances had brought him the antlers over a long period, and that he stored them without criminal intent. Later, strangers offered to sell the antlers, to which he agreed, after which police intervened.
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE AND EXPERT ASSESSMENT
The Chief Specialist of the Wildlife and Hunting Protection Department of the Turkestan Regional Territorial Forestry Inspectorate reported that the seized antlers are derivatives of animals listed in the Red Book. The damage to nature amounted to 2,915,086,500 tenge.
The amount of compensation for damage caused by illegally taking wild animals from their natural habitat was established by the order of the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan at 500 monthly calculation indices per deer.
The court ordered the recovery of 78,640 tenge from the defendant for the victims' compensation fund and 53,799 tenge for forensic examinations. The claim for compensation for damages of 3 billion tenge was not considered — the forestry inspectorate was advised to file claims through civil proceedings.
SENTENCE AND CONSEQUENCES
The Inter-District Criminal Court of Shymkent found the man guilty, imposing a sentence of 3 years and 6 months' imprisonment in a minimum-security facility. The verdict has not yet entered into legal force.
According to official data, the total number of Bukhara deer in Kazakhstan does not exceed 1,500–2,000 individuals.