The population of bison was estimated in the Caucasian Reserve

The Caucasian Reserve has hosted the first bison registration in the new year. It is held twice a year. In summer, groups of researchers and volunteers go deep into the reserve. In winter, it is impossible to visit hard-to-reach areas, so the accounting of ungulates, with the exception of some places, is carried out only fr om the air. This is reported on the reserve's website.

"During the aerial survey, about 300 bison were visually noted, but the exact figures will be known after processing the photo and video material," the report says.

There is a significant difference between summer and winter records: in summer, the main task is to clarify the population size, in winter, the herd and its structural features are analyzed.

"We have been conducting winter accounting for the past five years, during which time we have collected data that allows us to explore in dynamics what happened last winter, the year before last, four years ago at the same site. This gives us a critically accurate idea of the wintering conditions of bison," the words of the director of the reserve Sergey Shevelev are quoted on the website.

After the wintering sites have been identified from the air, the most trained researchers are sent to them to determine how many males, females, fingerlings, two-year-olds, etc. are in the herd. The specialists of the reserve also assess the feeding capacity of the territory.

"From year to year, groups of bison choose alpine meadows for wintering, wh ere snow is blown by the winds and exposes the ground, opening access to the food base. Bison are able to dig up a layer of snow up to 45 cm in search of food. If the weather is unfavorable and the snow level is higher than this value, they have to move to other mountainous areas, or feed on tree branches, but their supply is limited," the reserve noted.