There is a hunting controversy underway in Armenia after photographs of men holding dead griffon vultures emerged on social media.
The photos date back to before 2013 and the individuals in the photos have been identified. One of the men is a village mayor allied to the Republican Party of Armenia.
He told media in the country that the vultures were not hunted by him and his friends and that they simply took photographs with the carcasses when they found them.
The Armenian nature ministry says the hunting of endangered species is against Armenian law and that all those who are guilty of the offence must be ‘held accountable’.
