How have Arctic animals learned to survive in the natural environment of the Polar Urals?

Gornokhadatinsky section of the Polar Urals Natural Park is quiet at this time of the year. The main inhabitants of this protected area are muskoxen quietly roaming around the pen. Such behavior of the Arctic animals is quite understandable. The rut period has already ended, but there is still a lot of time before offspring. Evgenia Lyubimskaya will tell you what these shaggy inhabitants of the park are doing now.

We are at one of the sections of the Polar Urals Natural Park, its area is 220 thousand hectares. Gornokhadatinsky spot is special because animals with the Ice Age past live here now.

In the ridges of the Polar Urals mountains, where muskoxen live in pens, people closely monitor these historical hairy animals. At this time of the year they, as inspectors say, have a relaxed lifestyle.

“The muskoxen are in the eastern part of the pen at the moment. The rut period went well, there were no losses. Now, the muskoxen are going to stick together until the spring. Before the calving the bulls will get separated and females will stay at the other side of the pen where calving is going to take place, ” says Andrei Shumilkin, state inspector of Yamal-Nenets Bioresources Protection Service.

Inspectors of Yamal-Nenets Bioresources Protection Service are on a year-round duty at Gornokhadatinsky guard post. These people do not only watch and observe the behavior of muskoxen, but they also try to capture everything that happens with the surrounding Arctic nature and to notice wild animals without “registration” that appear at the guard post.

“Once here, next to the bathhouse, a stoat and a wolverine passed. The wolverine was here probably because of the eastern and western reindeer herders around. Maybe it followed the reindeers, "- says Lazar Eprin, state inspector of Yamal-Nenets Bioresources Protection Service.

The major achievement of the park employees is that, thanks to their well-coordinated and dedicated work, not only the number of muskoxen in pens, but also the number of free animals is constantly increasing.

In 2016, 50 animal units of muskoxen were released here. And today, the park staff can see two developed herds that already have kids.

“They all move around its habitat and occasionally come closer to our pen. We also recount and monitor them, for the moment they are behaving in a normal way, ” says Vyacheslav Kozlovsky, head of the department of work with the Polar Urals Natural Park.

Throughout the winter inspectors will actively work at Gornokhadatinsky site to preserve rare species of animals requiring special protection. Closer to the spring, they will have more cares. It will be special time at the pen. With the first warm days, furry babies will begin to appear and will become new inhabitants of this offbeat land.

Автор перевода: Ирина Синянская, Центр английского языка English Yamal (englishyamal.ru)