The Rosa Khutor resort equipped two reservoirs for spawning of the Caucasian parsley frog, Asian Minor frogs and newts.
These rare amphibians are endemic to the Western Caucasus, in Russia their range is limited only by the territory from Anapa to Elbrus, on the scale of Russia it is very small. For spawning they need a reservoir in which the offsprings subsequently grow up. Dmitry Kolosov, Director for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development of the Rosa Khutor Resort, told EcoTourism Expert that for more than ten years the Sochi National Park employees have been studying the course of natural processes on the verge of contact between humans and wildlife at the Rosa Khutor resort.
During a regular survey of the southern sector at an altitude of about 1800 meters above sea level, scientists found that the frogs of Asia Minor began to spawn and breed in the puddles gathering at the edge of the ski slope. It was decided to arrange a spawning ground in this place so that not only frogs of Asia Minor, but also rare Caucasian parsley frogs and newts could use this place for breeding.
The bowl of the reservoir was equipped last fall. After snowmelt and spring precipitation, a shallow, up to one meter, lake with an area of 24 square meters was formed. There are no such reservoirs within the boundaries of the southern sector of the resort from the ridge of the Aibga ridge to the Park of waterfalls "Mendelikha" at an altitude of 1470 meters above sea level.
Today the reservoir is about a third full. The water level in the lake will gradually rise, but this spring it was filled with thousands of tadpoles of the Asia Minor frog. Dmitry Kolosov noted that thanks to the creation of a reservoir it was possible to increase the capacity of the spawning ground in this place and push the number of endemic amphibians to a rise.
