July 9: Gazelle Day, International Day for the Destruction of Small Arms

Today, on July 9, animal rights activists and wildlife lovers in many countries of the world can join the events on the occasion of the Day of the gazelle, UNN writes.

Gazelles mostly live in herds  in the savannahs of Africa, as well as in Asia - from the Arabian Peninsula to the northern territories of India and China. Currently, 17 species of gazelles are known to science.

These animals are excellent runners and can maintain a speed of 50 kilometers per hour for a long time in motion.

Gazelles are an important part of the ecosystems of the areas where they live. Due to human activity, constant wars in Africa, and poaching, the gazelle population on the planet began to decline in the twentieth century.

In particular, according to scientists, the population of Grant's gazelle in the wild does not exceed 350 thousand individuals. The population of Thomson's gazelle is also declining.

On the initiative of the United Nations, since 2001, on July 9, many countries around the world have been holding events dedicated to the International Day for the Destruction of Small Arms.

The event was launched to draw attention to the sharp increase in illegal arms trafficking after the war in the Balkans in the 1990s. Illegal small arms are one of the key factors behind the rise in crime and the number of accidents caused by careless handling of weapons.

For Ukraine, the issue of illegal small arms became important in 2014, and became even more relevant after the full-scale Russian invasion.

Last year, about five thousand illegal firearms were seized from Ukrainian citizens.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, our citizens may have up to five million unregistered weapons.

Today is also the day to celebrate the unofficial Fashion Day, which was established in 2016.

The purpose of this event is to publicly protest against the prevailing fashion trends dictated by large corporations in the industry.

According to the church calendar, today is the Day of Remembrance of the Holy Martyr Pancratius, Bishop of Tavromenia.

According to legend, in his youth Pancratius met the Apostle Peter, became his disciple, and was baptized.

For some time, Pancratius retired to the Pontic Mountains, and when he returned, Peter ordained him bishop of the city of Taurum on the island of Sicily.

Pacratius built a church and converted many locals to Christianity.

The pagans could not forgive this bishop, so they seized Pancratius and stoned him to death.

Pankratii, Andrii, and Mykhailo celebrate their name days on July 9.