After the armed men passed the gamekeeper and fired several shots in the air, the two young poachers left Solana, but they did not leave without saying goodbye - one of them waved his hand, followed by the astonished looks of the reporter "Vijesti" and the cameraman from Slovenia, Gregor Šubic.
Game warden Zef Nikić and ornithologist Darko Saveljić, a veteran of bird protection at the Ulcinj Solana pools, however, did not seem at all surprised on Tuesday, despite the poachers being "caught" in the act.
In the last ten years, Saveljić has seen everything in one of the most important bird habitats on the eastern Adriatic, and Nikić, armed with a pen and paper, was in no mood to run after the poachers, who were only 20 meters away.
"They are also capable of shooting gamekeepers. They tried a lot, they haven't asked anyone anything for years," Nikić told "Vijesta", after the twenty-year-old boys didn't even scratch their heads when he told them to stop.
With deep fishing boots on their feet, they slowly stepped over one of the shallow pools and soon disappeared behind the embankment, making it clear that they were stronger than the state.
The police patrol arrived in about 15 minutes, but too late for the poachers to be punished for the crime.
"Salana's security is responsible for this kind of lawlessness. The gamekeepers were not allowed access for 4-5 years," said Nikić.
Back in 1984, Solana was declared a permanent hunting reserve where hunting is prohibited, and in 2004 the new administration declared it the first nature park in the ecological state of Montenegro.
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