The number of Red Arctic foxes has critically decreased on Medny Island
Today, on December 16, a videoconference meeting was held on the conservation of the endemic Arctic fox population living on Medny Island and listed in the Red Book of Russia, reports RAI KAMCHATKA-INFORM.
According to the National Park “Commander Islands”, in addition to the management of the environmental institution, representatives of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources, the Nature and People Conservation Fund, the management of the Moscow Zoo, as well as specialists from Lomonosov Moscow State University and IPEE RAS took part in the meeting. Severtsov.
This year, the expedition of the national park revealed a critical decrease in the endemic arctic fox population on Medny Island. The most likely reason is a lack of food supply due to a decrease in the number of sea otter, the fallen individuals of which were a great help for the Mednovsky Arctic foxes in winter.
A number of supportive measures were taken immediately – building materials and a large shipment of feed were delivered to the uninhabited island. Employees of the national park have built two automatic feeders. They should help some Arctic foxes survive the winter – calculations show that up to 20 individuals will be able to feed on these feeders until spring.
At the meeting, it was decided to create a working group to develop a conservation program for the Mednovo Arctic fox, and also discussed plans and prospects for future work.
Photo: Anastasia Rvantsova, Gleb Shevtsov/Commander Islands National Park.