A passion for hunting has brought several breeds of animal to the very brink of extinction in Kazakhstan. The hunting of eagle, snow leopard, kulan, saiga antelope, dzheyran, Tien Shan brown bear, red wolf and Turkestan lynx is now completely banned.
Annual quotas have been imposed on hunting other animals, but they are largely ignored by poachers. Thus, only a few arkhar (argali wild sheep) may be shot each year at a cost of US$ l6 000 each; ibex, maral and Siberian wolf are a bit cheaper.