The head of the “Melderi” hunting club, Jānis Krieviņš, revealed that at one of the public consultation meetings, held before the state of emergency was declared, he stood up and spoke as a representative of both hunters and farmers, as he is also the owner of the “Melderi” farm.

“One of the topics I touched upon was the fact that wild animals hide in restricted areas and nature reserves during the day, but go on raids to farmers' fields at night, damaging forest stands.

In the morning, they return to the protected areas, where a large number of animals gather. Especially wild boars and red deer, which are the biggest pests. My proposal was to allow hunters to hunt, following a specifically agreed procedure, for example, in winter, when it is impossible to harm the vegetation in any way.”