The winter is coming

Photo by Igor Shpilenok
Photo by Igor Shpilenok

The most part of bears, dwelling in the South Kamchatka Federal Reserve, have already stocked up fat for the winter and have laid down in the dens. Only separate species in the areas of the cordons of the Kurile Lake are still being awake, taking the sun and snow baths and going on fishing.

The Kronotsky Nature Reserve is situated in the in the south-eastern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Reserve was founded the 1th of November of 1934. In has been the part of the international net of biosphere reserves since the year of 1985, and in 1996 this unique territory was included in the list of the objects of UNESCO World Heritage. The South Kamchatka Federal Reserve, acting since the year of 1983, is located in the southern tip of the peninsula.

 

From the middle of July – till late autumn there is a mass spawning of sockeye in the pool of the Kurile Lake in the South Kamchatka Federal Reserve. All that period of time there are bears eating the fish on the shores of the pond, they are accumulating fat before the long winter sleep. There can be counted about 300-400 species during the bear fishing. The most part of bears lies down in the dens.

The bears hibernate on the main territory of Kamchatka Krai in December. The pool of Kurile Lake is an exception – because spawning  of sockeye salmon,  which feeds single individuals, goes on there for the whole  winter.

The bears are being observed by the staff of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve and Kamchatka Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography. The biologists are implementing monitoring of the settlement status and the habitat of red salmon in the pool of the Kurile Lake.

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Photo by Sergey Travin
Photo by Sergey Travin

There are constantly about 10 bears in the view of officers of the security service of protected areas, who are patrolling the neighborhood of the Kurile Lake. The governmental inspectors are observing them in the immediate vicinity from the cordons.

The biggest guarded group of Kamchatka brown bears with the strength of more than 1000 species  dwells in the South Kamchatka Federal Reserve. The Kronotsky Reserve counts more than 800 bears.


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Photo be Igor Shpilenok
Photo be Igor Shpilenok

«A mother with three bear cubs of last year resides in the region of the cordon Travyanoi. The she-bear dives for a fish, and the children are waiting for her on the bank. When the west wind is blowing, the animals are hiding behind the boat garage, and are basking in the sun there as well. Also there is a three-year bear walking besides the cordon all the time, it has been living independently already», - told Konstantin Lepsky, the district state inspector of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve.

The photo materials are provided by the Kronotsky reserve.