Siberia is often called the soul of Russia, because it is just as big and generous. The diversity of the world of flora, fauna and minerals is widely represented here, which a person has been using with pleasure for a long time, without thinking about how such exorbitant appetites affect mother nature. Environmentalists are constantly drawing public attention to the extinction of animal species throughout the planet.
Severe environmental situation around the world, uncontrolled production, barbaric mining, deforestation and the development of new territories have led to the fact that every day on the planet one species disappears. Unfortunately, the Siberian region, which has always been famous for its inexhaustible wealth, was no exception. The very fact of the existence of a section of the Red Book devoted to rare animals indicates that many species are already gone, while others are on the verge of extinction. In our article, we consider what plants and animals of the Red Book of Siberia need protection.
Plants
The vast expanses of Siberia stretch in various climatic zones. The plant world has a huge variety: from lichen and moss covering marshy areas to the huge coniferous forests of the taiga. But, despite this diversity, some plant species are disappearing and are already listed in the Red Book. For example, ginseng or petrel hydrangea until recently were not uncommon.
The anemone of forest botany was treated with special trepidation, because this representative of the buttercup family blooms once every ten years, and now it is almost impossible to find. Not everyone will be able to see the delicate lilac flowers of a wolf bast. This representative berry is now very rare in the forests of Western and Central Siberia.
Most recently, the snowdrop and the large-flowered slipper were pleasing to the eye. Now both plants are on the verge of extinction due to their beautiful flowers.
Fishes
Many animals of Siberia listed in the Red Book are exterminated by poaching. On its pages there are nineteen species of mammals, seventy-four species of birds, not to mention fish. Siberian sturgeon and sterlet, with which Siberian rivers abounded, turned into endangered species, and peled, common carp and carp have now become a special success for the fisherman.
Birds
It is impossible to imagine the vast expanses of the Siberian plain without a huge kingdom of birds inhabiting it. Ornithologists count about three hundred species of birds that choose a generous land for their nesting.
Siberia has become a real Mecca for these scientists: the rarest species of the planet flock here, still leaving experts at a loss. It would seem that the harsh nature of the region is not the best place for nesting. Nevertheless, birds travel thousands of kilometers to return to their homes. There are many versions of why this is happening. According to one of them, this behavior of birds is explained by genetic memory of the time when Siberia was a warm and ever-flowering place. Birds arrange their nests sometimes in the most amazing and seemingly unsuitable places for this. So, for example, the Kamenka-dancers adapted themselves to life in the mink of gophers, and the remez builds its elongated nests at the very ends of the branches in inaccessible places above the surface of water bodies. Shore swallows can be called real builders: they equip their homes on steep cliffs of rivers, tearing their burrows up to a meter long.
But the goat is completely not concerned about the construction of the nest and lays eggs directly on the ground. You can’t refuse originality to brown-headed gadgets: as a house for their chicks, they choose rotten stumps of trees in which the hollow is pecked. Unfortunately, many birds and animals of Siberia are on the verge of extinction, especially predators, whose populations have always been small. One of the largest owls on the planet, a barred owl is listed in the Red Book. Other birds of prey, such as peregrine falcon, gyrfalcon or saker, also need protection.
Siberian animals
Speaking about the animal kingdom of Siberia, it is difficult not to mention the variety of fur animals that this region is rich in: fox, arctic fox, raccoon, ermine, beaver, sable, mink, weasel, nutria, muskrat, otter and others.
These animals have always been the pride of hunting powers. Reserves, sanctuaries, hunting farms and fur-bearing animal farms are trying to maintain a fragile natural balance.
Poaching has become a real scourge, and now many fur animals of Siberia, listed in the Red Book, require protection. Such beasts, for example, include the Tuvan beaver and the Barguzin sable. Now these animals are recovering their population in reserves. Hunting farms are also monitored for predator populations, for example, excessive increase in wolves can also become a threat to small protected animals.
And what other animals live in Siberia? After this question, people immediately remember the brown bear, wolf, lynx, wolverine, Manchurian deer, deer, elk, wild boar, snow sheep, roe deer, red deer, musk deer, Baikal seal, beaver, hare and squirrel. Do not forget about smaller, but no less interesting animals. Moles, ground squirrels and field mice are familiar to everyone, which can often be found near people's dwellings. Less common people see a high-altitude Siberian vole, long-tailed gopher, lemming.
And what animals of the Red Book of Siberia are known? On its pages you can see a tiny shrew and a rare Daurian hedgehog. The number of these mammals is extremely small.
Where are representatives of endangered species kept?
The protection of flora and fauna has been and remains one of the most serious tasks assigned to mankind, which for many centuries has been thoughtlessly and wastefully related to the environment. Mastering new territories and natural resources, people are crowding out animals from their habitat, thereby exposing some species to the danger of complete extinction.
A huge role in the conservation of Siberia's nature is played by nature reserves and national parks. The Republic of Buryatia has three reserves and two national parks. You can not talk about the nature of the Siberian region, without mentioning Lake Baikal with its purest waters, located in Eastern Siberia. Rare representatives of the fauna inhabiting its shores and environs prompted the authorities of the Russian Empire to organize the Barguzinsky Reserve back in 1916. On its territory there are thirty-nine species of mammals, four reptiles, two amphibians and two hundred and sixty species of birds. The reserve is part of the complex of the biosphere testing ground of Lake Baikal and is part of the World Natural Heritage. On the southern coast of the lake there is another reserve created in 1969 and called Baikal. Animals of Siberia also live in it. There you can see 49 species of mammals, three reptiles, two amphibians and 272 species of birds.
Dzherginsky reserve
In 1992, the Dzherginsky Reserve, located in the north of the Republic of Buryatia, began its work. Through the efforts of its employees and scientists, a great deal of work has been carried out, as a result of which forty-three species of mammals, one hundred eighty-four species of birds, four reptiles, and three amphibians have been identified. Conservation work is being carried out in the national parks Transbaikal, Tunkinsky, Pribaikalsky, Shorsky, Alkhanai.
Animals of Western Siberia
What other animals of Western Siberia are endangered? Now we find out.
The cold climate of these places is easily tolerated by predators with expensive fur - Arctic foxes. There are fifty-seven thousand burrows in the vast expanses of the tundra, where furry predators have settled down. The Arctic fox is a game animal, therefore hunting farms are very attentive to its livestock. The skins of this animal are used not only for the domestic market, but also make up seventy-five percent of all fur exports.
Other animals that live a little south
To the south there are such animals of Siberia as ermine, weasel and even wolverine, who often like to visit residential villages to eat poultry. Earlier wild deer roamed huge herds in Western Siberia, now their number has declined very much and is only twenty-five thousand individuals. Sable, which is also a game animal, inhabits coniferous and mixed forests. Its production is a serious economic component in the Khanty-Mansiysk District and the Tomsk Region. Therefore, the illegal fishing of sables and other animals with valuable fur is punishable by law.
