Such data were shown by the registration of red deer in the Caucasian reserve. The annual planned scientific event, allowing to monitor changes in the number and state of the population of this species of ungulates living in the reserve, has been held since 1990. This year, the accounting was carried out at 19 sites.
«Reindeer census is carried out in autumn. It is at this time that they have a mating period. During this period, the nature of the deer changes radically. Each adult deer, without exception, makes itself known with a trumpet roar, spreading over the mountain valleys for tens of kilometers. Becoming less careful and vigilant, it is quite easy to spot deer at this time and to conduct a count of the animals,» reported in the Caucasian Reserve.
Caucasian red deer are predominantly mountain forest animals. In the Western Caucasus, they occupy mountain forests and meadows in the range of 700-3000 meters above sea level. The deer belongs to the most careful, alert and sensitive animals. Their hearing, sight and smell are excellent. By the wind, a deer can sense a person in a distance of more than half a kilometer, and the silhouette of a person can be recognized at a distance of 1.5-2 kilometers. That is why it is a great success to meet a deer near the tourist trail. Indeed, such cases do happen. The main part of the deer in the reserve lives in the “dormant zone”, where there are no hiking trails and disturbance factors. It is there that most of the counting sites are located.
