The Taimyr Nature Reserves Nature Conservation Institution has dedicated the year 2024 to the Putorana bighorn sheep, a unique isolated subspecies of snow sheep that lives only in Taimyr.
The goal of the scientists in the outgoing year was to study the population of these rare animals, which may be at risk of extinction due to climate change, in more detail.
In order to study the migration routes and behavioral patterns of bighorn sheep, Norilsk Nickel created the grant program "World of New Opportunities". A three-week journey across a 1,146 km long protected plateau, financed in this way, made it possible to observe 68 bighorn sheep; several of them will be tagged with satellite collars next season.
"Thanks to the systematic work of scientists in recent years, it has become clear that the population size of Putorana bighorn sheep is significantly smaller than previously thought: the number of individual animals does not exceed one thousand," says Elena Sharoykina, Chair of the Commission on Ecology and Environment of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
"Large-scale industrial production in areas remote from civilization always carries environmental risks, but we must give credit to our large companies - they invest in environmental projects and take responsibility for preserving biodiversity in the areas of their operations," she added.
The Biological Diversity project, a partnership of Norilsk Nickel and Nature Reserves of Russia, makes it possible to expand research in different areas.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
