NUMBER DYNAMICS AND PRESENT-DAY RESOURCES OF MAJOR GAME ANIMALS IN RUSSIA

Abstract

250 species of mammals and over 620 species of birds reside in Russia. 208 of them are game species. The most valuable ones are even-toed ungulates, fur species, middle-sized and big predators and dozens of bird species. Russian hunting ground occupies 1475834 hectares. During the period 2008-2013, the number of moose, roe deer, red deer and musk deer has increased, in the country as a whole (44, 21, 20 and 76 % , respectively), whereas the number of wild boar and reindeer has decreased. Moose, reindeer and roe deer population make 73 % of the number of all Russian ungulates. In Russia, the number in 2013, and the size of legal extraction in 2012 were as follows: for elk – 871500 and 10882 heads respectively, boar – 398530 and 57980, roe (European and Siberian) – 966600 and 30101, red deer –22500 and 4180, wild reindeer – 958000 and 23859, musk deer – 230000 and 5485, brown bear – 210000 and 4085, lynx - 22510 and 254, wolf - 44400 and 8361, sable –1.2.- 1.3M and 174 - 206K, red fox – 660.7K and 150K; ducks – 25M and 500K, geese - 3.5M and 100K, hazel grouse – 20.6M and 212K, black grouse – 15M and 64K, capercaillies – 3M and 26K. At present, the cost of extracted production of valuable mammal species is estimated at 54 billion rubles, present-day resource - 80-87G, the potential one – 580G. The estimate for extraction of wildfowl birds is 50-60 billion rubles. According to expert estimates, the potential ungulate and fur species’ number in our country is 5-10 times higher than the actual stock. Therefore, one of the most important tasks is increasing land productivity in accordance with its ecological capacity