The southern banded newt and the Caucasian parsley frog are endemic to the Western Caucasus and are included in the Red Book of Russia. Their range is limited only by the territory from Anapa to Elbrus - on a national scale, this is very small.
The Rosa Khutor resort said amphibians are under a double hit - on the one hand they are destroyed by raccoons introduced into the Krasnodar Territory several decades ago that become a real disaster for the native fauna. On the other hand, newts become victims of hunters of traffickers, who are massively catching these decorative amphibians for sale to aquarium collectors.
Director of Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development of the Rosa Khutor Resort Dmitry Kolosov emphasized that for breeding these animals can not do without a reservoir, which they use as a spawning ground - they lay eggs there, otherwise they cannot breed.
A special reservoir was arranged last summer in a natural hollow. The choice of location was made according to the recommendations of the Sochi National Park researchers who noticed the laying of frog eggs and tadpoles in puddles formed in this place at the exit of groundwater to the surface. The new lake will be fed from precipitation and a nearby spring. The water surface of the reservoir will be several tens of square meters, it will become an important stronghold for maintaining the population of newts and frogs in the mountains of Sochi.
Blogs
