Wild reindeer returned to Kamchatka’s summer pastures
Small groups of Red Book wild reindeer returned to the Kronotsko-Bogachevskaya tundra and the Kronotsky Estuary – to the summer feeding grounds of these animals, Kamchatka.Today reports with reference to the Kronotsky State Nature Reserve.
The deer are being monitored by state inspectors.
This year, the first animals returning from winter pastures appeared in the Kronotsko-Bogachevskaya tundra at the end of March – 17 individuals at once. Their number was increasing every day. Today, state inspectors monitor deer during patrols and directly from the Airfield cordon, which is located in the middle reaches of the Kronotskaya River. From afar, so as not to disturb the cautious artiodactyls. Now the deer have an important period – in late May and early June, they have offspring at the sites of the so-called summer camps.
“I see about 10 deer a day in the tundra, and they feed on young grass in the floodplain. Most of the animals are moving towards the Kronotsky Estuary, I haven’t seen any fawns this year yet,” said Makar Berdichevsky, state inspector of the reserve.
Kamchatka wild reindeer are genetically different from all other populations. In Kamchatka, the only large herd, the Kronotsky–Zhupanovsky, has been preserved only in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve. The total number according to the results of the air surveys conducted in 2024 is at least 800 individuals. The wild reindeer of Kamchatka is included in the Red Book of Russia. Conservation of its population is one of the priorities of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve.
“The closest attention is paid to the monitoring of the species. Approximately once every two years, an aerial survey is conducted in places of winter concentration (air surveys were conducted in 2015, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2024). Year-round monitoring of deer is conducted by state inspectors. They record meetings, the condition of animals, the presence and number of young animals, and herd indicators,” said Vladimir Gordienko, a researcher at the reserve.
In 2024, a three-year conservation project for Kamchatka’s wild reindeer was launched. It is being implemented with the support of the Conservation of Ecological Systems of the Far East and Siberia Charitable Foundation within the framework of the Natural Systems of Siberia, the Far East and Other Regions of Russia program aimed at Protecting the Territory from Poaching. Thanks to the Fund, additional uniforms for security personnel, equipment for uninterrupted communication and life support of cordons are being purchased.
Photo by Alexey Maslov