Research will be conducted on the little-studied reindeer population.
Next year, scientists from the Siberian Federal University (SFU) in Krasnoyarsk will begin studying the virtually unstudied (?) population of wild northern reindeer in the Norilsk industrial district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. This project will last several years.
According to Petr Savchenko, head of the Biodiversity Monitoring Centre at the Siberian Federal University, the wild reindeer population in the Norilsk industrial district is poorly studied, both in terms of numbers and population comparison. Moreover, the whole area has not been monitored for the past two decades.
The Krasnoyarsk region is home to a unique population of wild reindeer. Previous studies have shown that three years ago this population accounted for approximately 50% of the total in Russia, making it the largest in Eurasia. However, the reindeer population in the Taimyr-Evenki region is subject to fluctuations. In the 2000s, the number of reindeer reached 800-900 thousand individuals, but due to the «degradation of hunting and commercial farms» it decreased to 320-330 thousand. It is worth noting that the optimal population size is estimated at 480-580 thousand.
Research has included aerial reindeer surveys, unmanned aerial vehicles, analysis of animal migration routes, and molecular genetic and biochemical analyses. Genetic studies have shown that tundra reindeer are genetically almost indistinguishable from their forest counterparts.
Photo: ttelegraf.ru