Poachers with firearms entered Pelister's strictly protected zone; rangers and police searched in darkness for more than three hours
Rangers and police searched rugged terrain for over three hours at 2,000 metres to find armed intruders in Pelister National Park; a neglected World War I-era access road hampers control.
Rangers from Pelister National Park, supported by police, spent more than three hours moving in darkness over impassable mountain terrain at an altitude of 2000 metres to locate people armed with firearms who had entered a strictly protected zone of the park without permission.
The operation took place on steep, rocky tracks and in dense vegetation, and rangers say the difficult access slowed the search. Authorities discovered the persons with firearms inside the strictly protected area; details about arrests or charges were not disclosed.
The role of the century‑old "French road"
Park officials note that if the so‑called French road, a remnant from the First World War, were restored to use, patrolling and movement across the southern and southeastern flanks of the mountain would be significantly easier.
The forest road connects Big Lake with the Greek border and has two branches leading toward Brajchino. According to strategic documents of the park it was meant to serve as a key artery for nature protection — both for firefighting access and rangers' patrols — but it has been left without maintenance for years and today is overgrown and blocked in places.
Because of the neglected state of the road, parts of Pelister’s strictly protected zone remain difficult to reach for firefighting units, park protection teams and for routine environmental monitoring — a limitation that the recent nighttime search made painfully clear.
Photo: SDK.MK)
