From earliest times man has taken an interest in animals, but our ancestors were mainly concerned with hunting them. The oldest documents dealing with hunting laws date from the eleventh century. In Russia hunting was never a privilege, the prerogative of princes or state, but the state was always concerned with the products of the chase. One of the first reserves was made in the seventeenth century to protect the eyries of the gyr falcon, much in demand for falconry. An early government monopoly in fur trading guaranteed some measure of protection for fur-bearing animals.