Bison are moving to the Caucasus Nature Reserve. Mountain bison Habitat of bison

Quite recently, in the 34th issue of our newspaper, we talked about the history of the restoration of the European bison, about the problems that scientists face in the process of difficult work to save this species. However, this story would not be complete without telling us about the efforts to restore another subspecies of bison - the mountain, or Caucasian, which was completely exterminated from the wild in 1927.*

The civilized world learned about the existence of Caucasian bison only in the 19th century. Their rarity and complete lack of knowledge have attracted the attention of many researchers in Europe and Russia.

Historical information about the distribution of the Caucasian bison is extremely fragmentary. In the description of the hunts of Abal Khan in Aran (1276) and Gazan Khan in Talysh (1302), “mountain buffalos” are mentioned among other killed game. Rumors about wild bulls living in the Talysh mountains in Transcaucasia existed back in the 19th century. Perhaps the bison finally became extinct there in the 18th–19th centuries.

The fact that bison lived on the now treeless plain and in the mountains of the Central Ciscaucasia is evidenced by collections of skulls of these giants collected in Ossetian sanctuaries - dzuars (XVIII-XIX centuries). In the Ciscaucasia, bison were quite widespread, and their range here was connected with the range of the Don populations of the European bison.

A group of hunters. In the center is Grand Duke Sergius Mikhailovich

In the Lower Don basin, bison were exterminated, as you already know, by the beginning of the 18th century, but survived in the forests of the foothills and the northern slope of the Main Caucasus Range - from Abkhazia in the west to the Urukh River in North Ossetia in the East. After the end of the Caucasian War in 1864, the settlement of the Trans-Kuban region by settlers began, especially intensifying in the 1880s. The settlers began to actively clear forests and kill the beast. In addition, foot and mouth disease was introduced into the bison's habitat, and the animals began to die in the hundreds. As a result, the only refuge for bison in the Caucasus became the territory of the Grand Ducal Kuban hunt. It was organized in 1888 by the Grand Dukes Peter Nikolaevich and Georgiy Mikhailovich Romanov, who received the right to hunt on an area of ​​about 522 thousand hectares in the forest dachas of the Ministry of State Property and the Kuban Regional Military Administration. The boundaries of the leased area ran along the Main Caucasus Range in the south, along the Bolshaya Laba River in the east, and along the Belaya River (in Adygea) in the West. The place was chosen by an expert, former director of hunting in the Caucasus, Franz Iosifovich Kratky. In 1892, the right to use these lands was acquired by Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, who was subsequently simply delighted with the hunting on this land and the beauty of the rich nature of the Caucasus. Unfortunately, in 1909 the lease expired, protection of the territory ceased, and bison began to be actively exterminated again. By 1917 their number did not exceed 500, and by the beginning of the 1920s. – 50 heads.

In December 1920, the Kuban-Black Sea Revolutionary Committee published a decree “On the Kuban High Mountain Reserve,” created for the purpose of protecting bison. However, the official existence of the reserve, called the Caucasian Bison (now the Caucasian State Natural Biosphere Reserve, the territory of which is included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List) was confirmed by decree only in May 1924. But bison continued to be exterminated even after the organization of the reserve. The last three animals were killed by poachers in 1927 on Mount Alous.

In 1940, 5 bison were brought to the Caucasus Nature Reserve from the Askania-Nova steppe reserve, where since the 19th century. work was carried out on acclimatization, hybridization and artificial insemination of a number of domestic and wild animals, including bison. But the bison, accustomed to forests, were not adapted to life in the steppe areas of Askania-Nova. They lacked shelter from the sun and the necessary traditional branch food. We had to cross them with American bison - a species that is genetically close, but adapted to life in open grassy areas. By the end of the 1930s. the number of Askanian bison reached 60 animals.

One male and four females were sent to the Caucasus Nature Reserve. All of them had an admixture of blood from the only surviving bull of the Caucasian subspecies (the same one that participated in the restoration of the Belovezhsk herd). The animals were placed in a large enclosure of the Kishinsky bison park, located at an altitude of 1400 m above sea level. The forest here is represented by broad-leaved species, including wild fruit trees. In addition, the park had many clearings covered with a variety of herbaceous vegetation. All this made it favorable for bison habitat, both in summer and winter.

In 1949, male bison of the Caucasian-Belovezhsky line were brought to the Caucasian Nature Reserve and local females began to be crossed only with them, while males with an admixture of bison blood were practically eliminated from reproduction. Also, since 1949, animals began to be driven to high mountain pastures. Later they began to carry out such migrations independently.

In 1951–1953 The second bison park was created in the Umpyr tract on the Malaya Laba River. Employees of the Caucasian Nature Reserve moved part of the herd here. In the first year, the animals returned back to the reserve, but the next year 18 animals remained to spend the winter in the new bison park. In 1959, four more bison of the Caucasian-Belovezhsky line were added to them, obtained from the Belovezhsky bison nursery.

Beginning in 1954, the bison of the Caucasus Nature Reserve began to be transferred to free housing. In 1959–1960 They stopped feeding them in winter (although they continued to feed them with minerals). By this time, the size of the Caucasian population had reached 185 animals (96 males and 89 females). As calculations based on pedigrees showed, the proportion of bison blood in these animals decreased to 6.4%. In the future, this value should have decreased by itself, without additional efforts on the part of humans and the introduction of new animals of the Caucasian-Belovezhsky line into the population. However, it will no longer be possible to trace this process by analyzing crosses in the herd, since breeding records have been discontinued since 1960.

In the 1980s The herd of Caucasian bison numbered about 1,400 heads - it was a heyday. But later, due to poaching that greatly increased due to political turmoil, the number of animals again sharply decreased.

There are currently four populations of bison in the Caucasus. One of them, the largest, inhabits the Caucasus Nature Reserve; we have just told its story. Three others - in the North Ossetian and Teberdinsky state reserves and in the Nalchik state forestry and hunting enterprise in Kabardino-Balkaria, were created with the help of animals of the Caucasian-Belovezhsky line and bison from the Caucasian reserve. According to the latest data, the number of each of these three populations does not exceed 10–15 animals.

At one time, three more bison populations were created in the Caucasus in the Assinsky, Sunzhensky and Ismayillisky reserves. Unfortunately, by the end of the 1990s these populations were completely exterminated.

Based on materials: Nemtsev A.S. and others. “Bison in the Caucasus.” – Moscow-Maykop, 2003.

* In Russian, the name “European bison” refers to animals of the main subspecies – Bison bonasus bonasus, in contrast to the “Caucasian bison” - a subspecies Bison bonasus caucasicus. Recently, however, one can often find the use of the phrase “European bison” “in the English manner” - in relation to bison in general. In English, the expression "European bison" actually refers to the bison as a species ( Bison bonasus), in contrast to the “American bison”, “American bison”, i.e. bison ( Bison bison). However, the transfer of this tradition into our literature leads to confusion.

Mutaha and other Mumu

The safe return of the “prodigal sons” - four-year-old bison, who wandered through the forests near Moscow for almost 10 days, took place the other day in the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Reserve in the Serpukhov District. The ungulates that escaped on July 11 after the fall of the fence were discovered by reserve specialists... 30 kilometers from their native nursery. To return the fugitives home, experts conducted an entire special operation involving small aircraft. There were also psychological techniques and aphrodisiacs that scientists had to use so that the animals, without unnecessary anxiety and fear, of their own free will, and not at the crack of a whip, would follow in the direction in which the reserve is located.

The background to this incredible adventure is as follows. A massive escape of ungulates occurred after another July storm. The storm wind knocked down three spruce and four pine trees onto the fence of the enclosure. Under this weight, the metal structure, which reached a length of 20 meters, collapsed. A whole herd of young animals - 9 heifers and 3 bulls - which grazed on twenty hectares of fenced land, did not waste time and broke free. Although a paradox! The bison were already sure that they lived in freedom - they were hardly aware of the boundaries of their possessions. And the fence was more of an element of the landscape for them, rather than some kind of limitation. Nevertheless, as soon as this element fell, the horizon line turned out to be even further away, and the animals, driven either by inner instinct or by the sound of thunder, rushed into the thick of the forest.

As soon as the loss was discovered, 20 volunteers went in search of the missing livestock. During the first 24 hours they searched for the animals within a radius of 15 kilometers from the reserve, but there was no trace of them. More precisely, the tracks were washed away by the rain. Then the head of the administration ordered that small aircraft be involved in the search, and soon a sports plane and several hang gliders set off to look for the fugitives.

According to the head of the central bison nursery, Irina Zemlyanko, this teenage group of bison was just being prepared to be sent to the Smolensk National Park, where they were supposed to get into their natural habitat and practically forget about what a person looks like. They were specially raised in the wild, limiting contact with reserve staff and visitors as much as possible, so when they found themselves alone in the forest, they should have felt not like its owners, but rather like guests. After all, these young animals are afraid of any rustle. The reserve's specialists tried to warn local residents through all possible means of communication: if someone accidentally encounters a bison in the forest, there is no need to panic, run away, or throw stones and sticks at it. Having seen a person, the bison itself will try to immediately hide.

By the way, in the 69 years of the reserve’s existence, such an emergency associated with the violence of natural disasters occurred for the first time. Probably, endless rains washed away the root system of pines and spruces, and a strong wind swayed their trunks, so, falling on a completely stable fence, the trees broke it with their enormous weight. By the way, the fine for killing a bison is 500 thousand rubles, so the district administration warned the population of the Serpukhov region: if there are hunters who profit from bison meat, they will not avoid retribution and criminal liability.

The fugitives were found four days after their disappearance. However, the reserve workers did not drive them back home like a herd of cows. The animals were treated with care, because they were born to live in freedom and should feel like part of the wild. They should not see or hear any whip, shepherd, heavy equipment or domestic animals. Therefore, scientists resorted to several tricks: first they set up a pen, and then threw a tasty treat to the animals.

At first we walked in a line in their direction, but the bison bypassed it and returned to their original place - to a meadow where there was a lot of tasty grass,” said Irina Zemlyanko. - The next day they were no longer there. We started to follow the tracks. They sprinkled food in the clearings to lure the bison, but the wind blew in the other direction, and they did not smell the feeding. And then we finally found them and, lining up in the letter P, went to corral them. There were three kilometers between us and the animals. To make them run to the reserve, we shouted, howled, and whistled. Who cares? Unless they sang songs.

And after driving the bison, it was decided to leave them alone for a while,” volunteers who participated in the search told MK. - It was noticed that they took the same path along which they left the nursery, and there is great hope that they will move along it back to their usual quiet places. Inspectors and bison breeders cleared clearings littered with trees after the hurricane to make it easier for the animals to walk, and finally the bison crossed the border of the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Reserve, returning to the strictly protected territory. Here no one will touch or offend them.

We were very worried about them, so about seven people watched the bison every day,” comments Zemlyanko.

There were three “whys” in this whole story: why did generally calm, if not sedentary, animals literally rush out of the enclosure as soon as the fence collapsed? After all, their living area was more than two hectares - and in this environment they did not feel like prisoners. Why did they get lost? After all, the natural navigator that every wild animal has should have told the ungulates the way home. And finally, why did it take them so long to come back? Scientists found them on July 13. And the operation to return them home ended only on the 20th.

According to the assumption of the reserve's employees, those who escaped from the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve left the enclosure not because of the fall of the fence, but because of... the barking of hunting dogs.

They know all the noises,” said Irina Zemlyanko. - If, for example, there is a wild boar, deer or elk nearby, they lie down and do not twitch. But if the bison hear a person or the barking of hunting dogs, they will jump up and rush. So they ran away. Why did they go so far? Eyewitnesses called me and said that at the moment when they ran away, they heard barking in that place. They were chased by dogs! We flew like crazy for 20 kilometers! And then they switched from a gallop to a calm walk.

In all likelihood, the deserters were in no hurry to go home because they were not hungry. The fugitives had a large food supply at hand: water meadows, and even a whole lake. Plus the ability to move freely. So they cannot be called lost. They just became even more free and even more wild.

By the way, bison experts around the world have great hopes for this herd. “Each of them is a potential parent. It took 3.5 years and a lot of money to grow each one,” noted Zemlyanko. According to the tradition established in the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Reserve, the names of all bison born here begin with the syllable Mu... And here are the names of the desperate fugitives: Mutakha, Mugera, Muktyabrina, Mudzhik, Mufassa, Musveta, Mulesya, Murzik, Murcello, Murka, Mumusha, Murvana. Remember these names! Perhaps we will hear them more than once...

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In the 20s of the 20th century, the bison was endangered. The last wild Caucasian bison were shot in the Western Caucasus in 1926, and the last representative of the plain lineage in the wild was killed in 1921 in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. All today's bison descend from twelve individuals that were kept in zoos and nature reserves at the beginning of the 20th century. Low genetic variability is one of the main threats to the long-term conservation of the species. Thanks to conservation efforts on the part of zoos and private individuals, in 1952 it became possible to reintroduce the first free herds of bison in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. In 2013, there were 5,249 individuals in the world, of which 1,623 animals lived in captivity.

BY THE WAY

According to the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Sergei Donskoy, everything is in order with bison in the Moscow region and Central Russia. “The population of these unique animals in the wild is already approaching 500 individuals. At this rate, by 2020, bison will be freely walking through the forests of the Moscow region, surprising no one,” Donskoy wrote on the social network.

How bison returned to the Caucasus Nature Reserve - a brief history of the resumption of the once exterminated population of this large artiodactyl. “Kuban Studies” for grade 4 briefly talks about the fate of these animals, saying that in 1927 people managed to save this endangered species. In fact, the Caucasian bison (sometimes also called “dombai”) was completely exterminated after the end of the war of 1817-1864 and the annexation of the region to the Russian Empire. As you can see, Russia’s offensive imperial policy brought not only small nations to their knees, but also contributed to the destruction of animals. The Dombays were exterminated both by mountaineers, forced to flee in the mountains and somehow feed themselves, and by Russians and Cossack settlers from the “mainland”.

In 1909, the Kuban Cossack Army received a lot of land for rent, on which a certain number of Caucasian bison still remained. High mental abilities and a complete lack of redneck thinking led to the fact that by 1927 only three animals were caught, and only one of the males survived for reproduction. The problem of preserving bison in the Caucasus was dealt with by Europeans (and it’s true!) - in Paris in 1923 there was even a congress dedicated to the conservation of this species.

The bison offspring were obtained only by crossing the remaining male of the Caucasian species and the female of the Belovezhskaya species. In the Askania Novaya Nature Reserve, which was founded by the German Anhalt-Köthen dynasty, several hybrids were preserved. It was from this herd, as well as from one male (named Bodo), brought from Germany, that it was possible to continue the offspring, part of which was delivered to the Caucasus by 1940.

How the herd survived the Great Patriotic War is a separate story. Zoologists and shepherds somehow managed to drive the bison to a secret gorge and completely preserve them.

In the USSR, animals were taken care of better than during Tsarist Russia. Therefore, by the 60s, it was possible not only to return bison in significant numbers to the Caucasus Nature Reserve, but also to teach them to migrate at different times of the year in search of food from mountain meadows to the lowlands. In fact, Soviet scientists managed to awaken natural instincts in animals.

How many bison are there in the Caucasus Nature Reserve today? The current population is about 610 animals. The annual growth of the herd corresponds to 10%. Of course, these are the descendants of those hybrids that were created by German, Polish and Soviet scientists. According to some data, no more than 5-10% of the real Caucasian bison remain in them.

So, despite the fact that bison have returned to the Caucasus Nature Reserve, they are completely different from the animals that originally lived there. And our ancestors are guilty of their extermination.

We continue the series of photo essays about large animals of the Caucasus Nature Reserve.

Just in case, let me clarify that here I am primarily describing my own observations from meeting animals; I do not pretend to be scientifically complete; I may miss some important biological fact. I recommend that those interested study the subject in more detail in the relevant literature.

All photos are mine, or those of my companion Elena.

Essay two. Bison.

Since we don’t have lions (and the leopard has long been exterminated), the niche of “king of beasts” can rightfully be given to the bison. This is the largest animal found in our region (and throughout Europe).

There are about 700 bison in the entire reserve. They live in several herds of 50-100 bison each.
It is worth mentioning that the original inhabitant of these places, the Caucasian bison, was exterminated in 1927, and it was necessary to restore the bison, a representative of a very close subspecies, to the reserve, which perfectly replaced the original one, easily adapting to life in mountain conditions.

Every August, the reserve keeps a bison count. In the reserve, bison live in large herds in the alpine meadows in the summer. There are few places where such herds gather; they can all be listed from memory. So it's easy to take them into account. The main thing is to choose the time and weather.

Summer grazing areas are also confined to artificial salt licks. Since natural sources of salt (for example, mineral water sources) are located far below, near civilization and human habitation, the local animals would be in trouble without the supply of salt by the reserve’s workers. Typically, bricks of highly compressed table salt (so that it does not quickly dissolve in the rain) are dropped from helicopters or, more often, brought on horseback to certain places on ridges and slopes.

Here is one of such places. They are easily recognized by their lifeless patch in the middle of a green meadow. Because of the salt, the grass stops growing, and these salt licks are trampled down to the ground by the hooves, they are so popular among animals. Even birds sometimes come :)

The rest of the year, bison stay in small groups in the forest, where it is not easy to count them (or even just see them). And on hot, clear summer days they sometimes descend into the forest shade to go out to pasture in the evening.

In the forest, bison alone, in pairs or small groups are about as shy as chamois. They can look at you for 5-6 seconds, then run away wherever it is convenient for them, even as the branches crack.

The forest where bison live is very beautiful. Undergrowth and thickets are practically absent. A very colorful fir forest with the smell of mushrooms and pine needles. The rarity of the undergrowth is a consequence of the life of bison or the cause - I do not know, but I always recognize these bison corners.

By the way, in such forests, especially on the slopes, bison make very good paths where it is good for humans to walk. Except that it can be a bit dirty near streams. Their hooves don't care, but our boots are drowning in the slush with their laces.

In the summer, when bison graze in the meadows, their behavior is slightly different from that in the forest. When they gather in large herds, they become less timid, although they are cautious. Even having noticed a person, they do not immediately run away; first, several bison will begin to look at you carefully, then those who were resting will get to their feet.

Those animals that grazed further away slowly return to the main group, and only then, when the older females of the herd give an unspoken order to retreat, the entire herd magically gathers together and a large school behind the main female runs away towards the nearest forest, where they can easily hide.

Sometimes the herd does not immediately hide in the forest, but stops several hundred meters from the place where it was scared off and takes an observation position. If the threat persists, the herd resumes its escape after a break.

Summarizing the above, I note that the photographer has from one to five minutes on average to photograph a herd of bison in the meadows.

Sometimes solitary males are found separately from the herd; it is more difficult to get close to them, but if you follow a number of rules for secretly approaching the animal (I will talk about them in one of the following articles), then the photographer will have a few seconds in the photo before the bison runs away.

P.S. And here’s another thing: bison leave behind these heaps, reminiscent of cow dung. This can be quite puzzling to a non-specialist, since cows in those places have nowhere to come from :)

In the Red Book of the Krasnodar Territory, mountain bison are classified as “Restored Species”. Typical mountain forest animals live at altitudes of up to 2000 meters above sea level.

In all of Europe, bison are the largest mammals. The large animal has excellent adaptive abilities, thanks to which they effectively occupy a niche in the ecosystem of the extinct native bison.

Short description

Body size: height at withers - up to 180 centimeters, length - 300-330 centimeters.

Weight: female - up to 400 kilograms, male - up to 600 kilograms.

Color: dark brown, curly fur, covering the entire body except the muzzle. In summer, the coat is shorter and lighter than in the winter season.
The head is massive, lowered below the withers, with small curved horns. A long beard grows under the lower jaw. Bison have a wide front part, the back part is less pronounced.
Sexual dimorphism is expressed in body size and temperament; females have a less overgrown head and neck.

Habitats

The habitat of mountain animals covered the Caucasus and Europe. The Caucasian and Belovezhsky bison were completely exterminated in the 20s of the last century. Now they are restoring the population in Belarus and Poland. There are recreated groups of animals in the European part of Russia and in the Carpathians.

In the Krasnodar Territory, the bison population has been recorded in the floodplain of the Malaya Laba and Belaya rivers.

Population size and factors influencing it

The global population of mountain bison is up to 4,000 individuals, half of which are kept in captivity in artificial nurseries and zoos. The other half remains in free herds living in the wild.

In winter, bison move to areas of the forest with little snow where they can find food. In summer they graze in meadows near the borders with the forest.

Sexual maturity occurs in females at 5 years of age. Males are ready for the rut by the age of 6 years - before this, the young animals cannot compete with the older generation. The mating season begins at the end of summer and lasts until mid-autumn. Pregnancy lasts 9 months and one calf is born.

Massive poaching and human development of wild areas for agricultural activities have led to a global decline in the number of mountain bison.