Protection of endangered species: Lynx

The Wild cats of the southern Siberia project

The grant of the Russian Geographical Society “In the footsteps of the snow leopard” has developed into the full-scale project “Wild cats of the southern Siberia” and focused on study and preservation of rare cat species living in the south of Siberia – the snow leopard (irbis) and the lynx.

Despite the lynx is considered to be distributed more widely than other cat species, it has a status of a threatened species with a decreasing population. Population range of the lynx shrinks and its number decreases because of the habitat areas destruction and hunting. Man has been killing the lynx as a pest, game bird destroyer and fur animal for years.

The project is designed to improve efficiency of environmental activities within the territory of natural protected area of the southern Siberia (the Khakassky nature reserve, the Sayano-Shushensky nature reserve, the Ubsunur Hollow nature reserve and zakaznik of federal importance Pozarym). Also, among the project’s tasks are improvement of the civil consciousness and responsibility, formation of peoples’ needs to adhere environmental recommendations, restrictions and ambition for personal participation in environmental activities.

Feeding study, food reserve monitoring, zoological and veterinary survey of natural populations of the wild cats are also in the tasks list. Social aim of the activities is to raise peoples’ knowledge level of necessity and importance of rare animal species preservation.

The work undergoes in cooperation with the Khakassky nature reserve (the Republic of Khakasiya), the Sayano-Shushensky nature reserve (Krasnoyarsk Krai), the Ubsunur Hollow nature reserve (the Republic of Tuva), zakaznik of federal importance Pozarym (the Republic of Khakasiya) and the A.N. Severtsov Institute of ecology and evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences.