The results of winter route counts of animals in a specially protected natural area in the Kamchatka Territory indicate a sharp increase in the number of hares and an increase in the number of wolverines and lynxes.
During the field work, employees of the reserve skied about 300 kilometers to carry out the accounting, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia notes on its website.
“In recent years, there has been a consistently high number of white hare throughout the entire territory of the Kronotsky Reserve. In two years, it has grown 5 times and amounted to about 20 thousand individuals in 2020, and more than 30 thousand in 2021. According to the results of winter route counts this year, a maximum number of more than 107 thousand hares was noted,” said Daria Panicheva, head of the scientific department of the Kronotsky Reserve.
As for the lynx, according to the records, more than 60 individuals now live in the reserve, with an average annual rate of about 30. Panicheva connects the high number of wild cats compared to previous years with a large number of hares - the main object of their hunting.
This year, the number of wolverines living in the reserve, the largest representatives of the mustelid family in Kamchatka, has also increased. Today there are about 90 of them - three times more than according to the results of last year's observations. The reason for such fluctuations in numbers in the annually surveyed territories may be the nomadic lifestyle of predators, the ministry noted.
“The state of the sable population is also prosperous - a species for the sake of preserving which the Kronoki and Asacha areas were declared protected in 1882, and the Kronotsky Reserve was created in 1934. According to the results of the censuses, the total number of animals amounted to more than 3,300 individuals, with an average long-term of 2,800-3,000,” the ministry said.
According to experts, the number of elk in the reserve also remains at a consistently high level - 193 individuals. This suggests that they effectively use territories with the most favorable habitat conditions. Most of the traces of moose were noted in the floodplain and stone birch forests.
At the same time, during the surveys, it was found that the number of foxes this year has almost halved compared to last year and amounted to a little over 700 individuals.
“But since the number of this species is subject to annual fluctuations, the state of the population of red predators does not cause concern. So, in 2015, according to the results of winter route counts, less than 80 foxes were noted, in 2016 - 300 individuals, in 2017 - 600,” the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia notes.
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