On the Distribution of Reindeer in the Middle and Northern Urals

Abstract

The reindeer populations of the Middle and North-ern Urals have been declining since the second half ofthe 19th century (Kirikov, 1966); in northern areas, thisprocess began even earlier, approximately in the 1830sor 1840s. This is attributed to the intensive develop-ment of domesticated reindeer breeding. In the late1930s, the southern boundary of the reindeer rangepassed along the Pechora–Kolva watershed (Kuklin,1938), crossed the Loz’va River near its source, andthen extended to the southwest along the Loz’va,Tavda, Tobol, and Irtysh rivers (figure). However, iso-lated reindeer populations also occurred farther to thesouth: on the western macroslope of the Veslyana Riverbasin (no less than 1000 animals; Kuklin, 1938), on theTura–Tavda watershed and in the adjacent areas ofKrasnoufimskii and Manchazhskii raions, and in theSouthern Urals (Sabaneev, 1988; Kuklin, 1938).According to Kurazhkovskii (1949; cited from Per-ovskii, 1975), the northern boundary of the main rein-deer range in this region was at the latitude of the Cher-dynskii Kamen’ and Konzhakovskii Kamen’ moun-tains, i.e., south of that indicated by Kuklin (1938).To date, both the range and population size of rein-deer in the Middle Urals have decreased significantly.This is apparently explained by large-scale tree cuttingin lichen pine forests (wintering stations for reindeer),hunting, and generally increasing anthropogenic pres-sure. For a long time, reindeer have not been found intheir former insular areas south of the main range, atleast in Sverdlovsk oblast. In the northern part of Sver-dlovsk oblast, the presence of reindeer is periodicallyrecorded during winter route censuses in Garinskiiraion. A small herd of about 100 animals inhabits thearea between Pelymskii Tuman and Vagil’skii Tuman.In Taborinskii raion, reindeer lived on both banks ofthe Tavda River (on the right bank, in the TaborinkaRiver basin and near lakes Bol’shoe Krivoe and MaloeKrivoe) in the 1960s and 1970s. As reported byV.L. Shishkin, a local hunting expert, the southernboundary of the range subsequently shifted to thenortheast, and reindeer disappeared from the right bankbut still occurred on the left bank near the lakesBol’shoi Akh and Malyi Akh, in the Chernaya Riverbasin. In the early 1980s, A.A. Kiselev observed agroup of 20 reindeer in the basin of this river during theaerial census of ungulates. Later, reindeer and evidencefor their presence were found in near the KuminskoeSwamp in the upper reaches of the Volchim’ya andBol’shaya Iksa rivers. According to Shishkin, a smallgroup of no more than 20–30 reindeer may live in nearthe Chernoe Swamp.Another isolated population lives in Ivdel’skii raionof Sverdlovsk oblast and the adjacent area of Permoblast. In the spring of 1985, I found footprints andfeces of seven or eight wild reindeer on the westernslope of Mount Molebnyi Kamen’ and observed a rein-deer swimming across the Moiva River in its upperreaches. Footprints left by a group of six reindeer werefound in the area of the confluence of the Moiva andVishera rivers. V.Yu. Kuprin reported the presence ofreindeer in the subgoltsy zone and open Siberian stonepine forests on Mount Tulymskii Kamen’, at least in theearly and mid-1980s. According to V.S. Obyval’tsev,head of the local meteorological station, reindeer in thisperiod permanently inhabited the Niols River basin andthe Niols–Moiva watershed, where they occurred ingroups of 5–15 animals. Herdsman P. Bakhtiyarov andN. Akhmedeev, game warden of the Ivdel’ State ForestEnterprise, reported that they also have encounteredsmall groups of wild reindeer in the same region.Akhmedeev once observed a herd of 150–200 reindeerin the autumn in the upper reaches of the Takhta River.It should be noted that Mansi people do not use thisarea for pasturing domesticated reindeer, as lichens ongrazing grounds in the mountain tundra are generally inshort supply due to the presence of steep and rockyslopes. However, some gently sloping areas are rela-tively rich in lichens, including those of the genera Cladina and Cetraria. The signs of damage by grazingreindeer in the lichen cover of these areas are mani-fested very weakly, in contrast to those in the morenorthern tundras used as summer grazing grounds fordomesticated reindeer.In recent years, the anthropogenic impact on thenorthern Sverdlovsk oblast has decreased: as manyprison camps were closed and villages for people sen-