Forest animals included in the Red Book of Russia: photo and description

In connection with the disappearance of many objects of flora and fauna in recent years, emergency measures are required to save them. Despite the fact that animals listed in the Red Book of Russia are under special protection of the state, the number of individuals of some of them continues to decline.

Causes of extinction of animals

This problem is relevant for many countries in the world. The complete disappearance of many species of animals from our planet is of great concern to nature conservationists. The main cause of this phenomenon is the violation of the natural balance as a result of environmental pollution, which has a detrimental effect on representatives of the animal world.

The consumer's attitude to nature plays a large role. Poaching has led to a significant decrease in the population of many species of animals, and some of them have disappeared irretrievably. Our country is not an exception. On the verge of extinction, animals listed in the Red Book of Russia are also on the verge of extinction (a description of the rarest of them is given in this article).

The Red Book of Russia

In addition to the international Red Book, a similar document was created in Russia in 2001. It contains data on the status and distribution of rare animals and plants in our country, their condition and protection measures. The Red Book is a reminder to everyone about how defenseless our nature is. Improving their living conditions by cutting forests and draining swamps, a person should not forget about those who are nearby. While this is the only official document that has a mechanism for protecting the animal and plant life.

The situation stabilizes due to the efforts of nature defenders, the fact that some plants and animals included in the Red Book of Russia supplement the lists placed on its green pages, informing about representatives of fauna and flora that have overcome the critical point of population decline.

Nevertheless, there are still a lot of endangered species of animals that live in our country.

Zubr

These mighty animals up to two meters in height and weighing sometimes more than a thousand kilograms were almost completely destroyed in the wild by the beginning of the last century. The counted number of individuals remained only in zoos in Europe. This situation arose due to the destruction of forests, the growing number of human settlements in bison habitats, and intensive hunting.

If earlier these powerful and beautiful animals were often found not only in forests but also in open spaces, the bison animals that remained in the Caucasus and Belovezhskaya Pushcha in the 20s in Russia were completely destroyed by poachers. The basis for breeding was only isolated individuals in captivity (in zoos, nurseries, etc.).

Despite the fact that today the bison are animals listed in the Red Data Book of Russia, their population is still very small, and they are still under threat of extinction.

Amur tiger

This is probably the largest cat in the world. Her body reaches 3 meters in length. The weight of the animal is about 300 kg. The Amur tiger has a special resistance to colds, arranging its rookery directly in the snow and being there for quite a long time. This animal prefers mainly forests with steep slopes and rocky outcroppings, from where the surrounding space can be clearly seen.

Residents of Primorsky Krai, where this terrible predator lives, worship him. In their language, they call the Amur tiger "amba," which means "big." Nevertheless, this did not save him from extinction. Back in the XIX century, like all other animals listed in the Red Data Book of Russia, the Amur tiger was quite numerous in terms of the number of species inhabiting the species. But the destruction of the forest, unregulated shooting, poaching led to the fact that by the beginning of the last century these animals remained only in the most deaf taiga corners. Then there were not more than 50 of them.

Today thanks to nature conservationists and scientists, the population of the Amur tiger in Russia has increased significantly. Now in our country there are about 450 individuals.

Giant Shrew

The numbers and giant shrews have been steadily declining lately. This representative of the family of shrews has a fairly large size - up to 10 centimeters.

It dwells mainly in broad-leaved or mixed forests located in the south of the Primorsky Territory. These animals, entered in the Red Book of Russia, prefer forests that are in river valleys and are not touched by logging or fires. The reduction of the population of this species was influenced by the peculiarity of the shrew, to bring offspring only once during the entire summer period. Until now, scientists have not been able to establish the sex ratio, as well as the number of young in the litter. The main diet of the giant shrew is composed of earthworms, which it is able to extract even from very dense soil.

Amur Forest Cat

This formidable spotted predator, whose length can reach 1 meter, has special signs: each individual has a unique pattern on the wool, and on the forehead there are light and dark strips. The animal lives mainly in the south of the Far East and Primorsky Krai.

The Amur cat reacted by reducing the population size for cutting down trees, forest fires and other human activities. This is one of the main reasons why some species of animals are disappearing today. Entered into the Red Book of Russia, they get a chance to save their population. Thus, the number of individuals of the Amur cat recently increased significantly.

Sakhalin musk deer

These are small cloven-hoofed deer family, which today are also under threat of extinction. Their population declined sharply at the end of the last century. The number of this species today does not exceed 650 individuals and tends to decrease, so the protection measures in their relation are especially important.

These animals, entered in the Red Book of Russia (photo can be found in this article), live mainly in dark coniferous forests located in the mountainous area of Sakhalin Island. Instead of horns, the males have saber-like fangs, whose length reaches 10 cm. The musk deer has the ability to perform two-meter jumps from the spot.

Fish eagle owl

The length of the body of this largest owl on the territory of Russia can be up to 70 cm. Moreover, females are somewhat larger in size than males. The fish eagle owls far from the human habitation, preferring to settle in mixed forests located near lakes and rivers rich in fish. In search of prey, he, as a rule, sits down on a large stone and gazes intently at the water. Noticing the fish, the owl immediately dives and snatches it from the water. Food for these birds are also crayfish, frogs, which they grope their paws on the bottom of the pond. Fish owl is no less than many forest animals included in the Red Book of Russia, needs protection, since the number of individuals is steadily decreasing.

Far Eastern leopard

Here is another of the representatives of the cat family, which is on the verge of extinction. The range of its habitat is the southern territory of Primorsky Krai, where at present no more than 50 individuals are identified.

The Far Eastern (or Amur) leopard has some peculiarities compared to other relatives. His hair varies significantly depending on the season. If in summer it has a bright color and a maximum length of 2.5 cm, then it reaches 6-7 cm in winter and becomes lighter. Beautiful fur has become one of the reasons for the decline in the population of these animals. Near the forests, where Amur leopards live, there are villages, agricultural lands, and this creates favorable conditions for poachers. For the sake of profit, not only leopards are destroyed, but many other animals included in the Red Book of Russia.

The main food for the Amur leopard is deer, the number of which decreases in the wild. It is not uncommon for owners of reindeer husbandry to kill predators that wander into their territory in search of food.

Because of the active economic activity of a man, conducted in the Far East from 1970 to 1983, the habitat of the Far Eastern leopard was reduced by more than 80%. Today, special environmental measures are being taken to protect the land suitable for these animals from human influence and increase the number of Amur leopards.

The animal world is changeable. Therefore, lists that list which animals are included in the Red Data Book of Russia today may look different in a couple of years. I want to believe that many species of fauna that are on the brink of extinction will be on the green pages of this document.