---
title: "Moldova's unusual wild animal trade: exporting zebras, importing pheasants"
url: https://radiomoldova.md/p/87515/moldova-s-unusual-wild-animal-trade-exporting-zebras-importing-pheasants
published: 2026-10-17T14:00:00Z
language: en
author: "Bogdan Nigai"
section: "Economic"
source: radiomoldova.md
---

# Moldova's unusual wild animal trade: exporting zebras, importing pheasants

> The Environmental Agency issued permits in 2026 for two zebras destined for export to Ukraine and 31,000 pheasants imported from Romania and Hungary. According to the agency’s public registry, cross-border movement permits cover not only domestic animals but also species rarely seen in the Republic of Moldova.

![](https://storage.radiomoldova.md/images/a86981ee-a06f-4d64-9df4-9e7439439a29.jpg)

The Environmental Agency issued permits in 2026 for two zebras destined for export to Ukraine and 31,000 pheasants imported from Romania and Hungary. According to the agency’s public registry, cross-border movement permits cover not only domestic animals but also species rarely seen in the Republic of Moldova.

The first of these cases occurred right at the beginning of the year. On January 6, the Environmental Agency authorized the export of two live zebras—of the subspecies known as Chapman’s zebra—to Ukraine. The document does not specify where the animals originated, their exact destination, or the purpose of their transport.

A few months later, pheasants appeared in the institution’s records—this time numbering in the tens of thousands. On May 26, the Society of Hunters and Fishermen of the Republic of Moldova obtained two permits to import 20,000 live pheasants from Romania and another 10,000 from Hungary.

The imports did not stop there. On June 23, the same organization received another permit for an additional 1,000 pheasants from Hungary. Thus, in less than a month, three authorizations were issued for the importation of 31,000 birds.

Both the zebras and the pheasants are classified in the documents as non-CITES species—meaning they are not included in the appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.