“Can we climb up here?” I ask in the tone of a six-year-old child near the wooden stairs hidden in the crown of a pear tree.

“Sure, climb up,” says our guide, biologist Volodymyr Buchko. Hidden in the branches, there is a platform and a table with a bench. 

“I drink coffee here in the evening and watch animals come out into the open. There’s a ram over there and a deer…”

From the terrace on the pear tree, you can see the hilly western Ukrainian steppe, the Burshtyn Reservoir, and scattered thickets where deer, mouflons, and other animals hide from the heat. Kasova Hora Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration Center is located near the city of Halych in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, where Daniel of Galicia is a Ukrainian historical figure and the king of Rus’ (from 1253). He is described as an exceptionally gifted ruler, who built a number of cities (including Lviv), reformed the military forces, and brought European cultural influences to Ukraine. Adapted from: Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine.Daniel of Galicia once lived. Volodymyr appears to have as much right to be proud as the king, for his long-held ambition has come true here: Ukraine’s largest ungulate rehabilitation center, where animals recover and restore the steppe.

“Just mow it”

There is no entrance fee, but there is a donation box and a charity account. Right at the entrance, fallow deer are resting in the shade. They spot us and jump up. As we ascend higher, the chimneys of the Burshtyn TPP is a coal-fired power plant located in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. Source: Wikipedia.Burshtyn TPP and the blue reservoir on the Hnyla Lypa River appear on the horizon.

The Gorgany Mountains stretch across the skyline. From Kasova Hora (hora means “mountain” in Ukrainian), you can see far into the distance. 

Where does the name Kasova come from? In Ukrainian, it means “cash register.” What could that possibly have to do with a mountain? Locals tell a story that Daniel of Galicia once hid his treasure in one of the many caves here. However, it is more likely that the name comes from the word kosovytsia (“haymaking”). And haymaking plays an important role here!

But even if the treasures are really here, there is also a more valuable and undiscovered treasure—a rare natural area.

Kasova Hora is the largest fragment of meadow steppe in the region. “This is the benchmark for the Western Ukrainian steppe. There are other areas like this one, but they are very small,” explains Volodymyr, confidently strolling through Kasova Hora in his Crocs. “The ecosystem here is very rich. There are 380 species of vascular plants, more than 30 of which are listed in the The Red Book of Ukraine is an official national red list of the threatened animals, plants and fungi that are protected by the law in Ukraine. Source: Wikipedia. Red Book of Ukraine.”

Vsevolod Levytskyi, a nature conservation specialist of Shevchenko Scientific Society is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication, founded in 1873. Source: Wikipedia.Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lviv, was the first to want to protect this steppe. In 1936, he wrote a letter to the Metropolitan of Galicia and the Archbishop of Lviv, Andrey Sheptytsky is a priest and theologian of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church who served as the Metropolitan of Galicia and the Archbishop of Lviv from 1901 until his death in 1944. Source: Wikipedia.Andrey Sheptytsky, asking him for the land of Kasova Hora, which at that time belonged to the church. Scientists and representatives of the Greek Catholic Church gathered at a conference and jointly decided to create a nature reserve on Kasova Hora. However, World War II thwarted these plans. During the Soviet era, a nature reserve was created here after all. Initially, 7 hectares were protected, and since 1988, 65 hectares have been protected.

In other areas, people mowed hay. However, where the deer now graze, sheep were kept until the 1990s. Plowing was impossible here, as limestone and gypsum come to the surface, so a plow cannot pass. This is what saved this piece of the steppe from destruction.

In 2019, renowned botanist Yakiv Didukh visited Kasova Hora, Volodymyr recounts. He did not recognize it. The steppe had become extremely overgrown, leading to thickets and invasive species. Soon there would be nothing of value left in terms of nature conservation.

“I said we would preserve it,” recalls Volodymyr. “And Yakiv replied, ‘Take a scythe and just mow it.’” It was impossible to mow so much. That’s when I came up with the idea of creating a rehabilitation center for ungulates.

“So that they could graze and take care of the area?”

“Exactly!”

Teeth and horns vs. thickets

By eating trees and shrubs, ungulates preserve the steppe. Otherwise, the area becomes overgrown. Then, valuable species disappear, replaced by invasive species that are not characteristic of the steppe.

Volodymyr’s idea to bring ungulates to Kasova Hora was supported by IFAW, which financed the initial costs. Scientists organized an expedition there. Together, they created a project on how to manage the territory. In 2023, the Burshtyn City Council supported the project and leased the land to Volodymyr Buchko for 20 years so that the plan could be implemented under his leadership.

The restoration of an ecosystem to its original state is called rewilding. At Kasova Hora, this process was carried out by ungulates, or rather their teeth. Kasova Hora is a two-in-one project: the rehabilitation of ungulates that had previously lived in unsuitable conditions and the restoration of the steppe.

In addition, species that previously lived in Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and northeastern Moldova. Source: Wikipedia. Podillia are being returned to the wild here. This is a reintroduction.

Volodymyr, his wife—botanist Lesia Buchko— and one hired staff member work on the wide terrain. Volodymyr is presently serving in the military, thus he can only visit the reserve while on leave. It would be difficult to function without volunteers.

“UAnimals coordinates volunteers for us. And now I’ll show you how they’ve helped us!”

Volodymyr leads us to an area where cut bushes and trees are visible. This area has been cleared. Most of the branches and logs were removed by the volunteers. There are three such areas at Kasova Hora. Botanists have taken notes on them and will now monitor how the steppe gets restored in these places.

Volodymyr crouches down next to a gnawed sapling. “This tree has dried up, and that’s a good thing. Male European roe deer rubbed their antlers against it and stripped off all the bark. That’s why the tree died. We allow individual trees to grow, but if there are too many of them, the steppe becomes overgrown. If you cut down a tree, the undergrowth remains and continues to grow. But here, everything has been gnawed away, so it won’t grow anymore. In other words, roe deer regulate the ecosystem.”

Peter, Vasyl, and who else?

There is a roe deer in a small quarantine enclosure. However, this animal has not yet started working on the ecosystem. He looks like a small goat and runs to a bottle of milk to suck eagerly. “This is little Peter. He was found on Peter and Paul Day, so that’s what we named him,” says Lesia.

There are eleven roe deer at Kasova Hora. They were handed over from private keeping. “They all have the same story,” Volodymyr complains. “People come to the forest, see a baby roe deer, and take it home. The deer grows up and starts eating everything. And then we are asked to take it away, as soon as possible. No matter how much you explain that you can’t take babies from the forest, people still can’t resist doing it!”

In the neighboring enclosure, Vasyl, a deer from Boryspil, was also brought from private keeping. Right now, the deer is resting in the shade.

“Why is he in quarantine?” I ask.

“He got into a fight with another deer. We’ll release him soon. He’s actually phlegmatic and tame. When he was brought, he just stood there and didn’t want to leave the cage. To get him to walk out, you had to push him from behind. He’s terrified of machinery. Maybe he was in some kind of accident.”

The rest of the animals roam Kasova Hora wherever they want. However, the area itself is limited, covering just 23 hectares. This is how much land Volodymyr has been able to fence off so far. The ungulates live here in conditions close to their natural ones. They hide from people, and it is not so easy to see the animals.

“Kids come here and say, ‘We want to see the animals,’” shares Volodymyr. “I always tell them that this isn’t a zoo. Wild animals live their own lives, but you can walk around and look for them. Maybe you’ll find them, but no one can guarantee you that. It’s a kind of quest in itself.’”

The ungulates to the foreground  

I love quests, so we continue on our way. Ahead, a reddish, curious head peeks out from the grass. It is a female Przewalski’s horse.

She was the first resident of the center and settled here with the help of UAnimals. She used to live in the former hunting residence of Ukraine’s ex-president, Viktor Yanukovych is the fourth president of Ukraine, from 2010 to 2014. Yanukovych was removed from the presidency during the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, which followed months of protests against him. Since then, he has lived in exile in russia. Source: Wikipedia.Viktor Yanukovych. There is now a recreation park there. 

The animal had a fiery temper, so in the spring of 2022, the staff decided to put her down. Concerned people intervened, and UAnimals joined to support the animal. The organization paid for sedation, veterinary care, and transportation of the animal to the Ivano-Frankivsk region. She lived for another year at the stadium in the city of Burshtyn, as there was no enclosure yet for her at Kasova Hora.

Her neighbors are a herd of nine northern spotted deer that used to live in the Lviv region in a cramped enclosure of a recreation center. The place went bankrupt, and there was no one to take care of the animals. UAnimals, together with Volodymyr, transported them to Kasova Hora, where the deer now have incomparably more freedom. Later, one of the females gave birth to a fawn, so now there are ten animals in the herd. They share the vast territory of Kasova Hora with two other spotted deer, three European fallow deer, four mouflons, and eleven European roe deer.

The animals do not reproduce at the center, so during the mating season, males and females get separated. To do this, they are lured into a special enclosure with food. “They went in and moved in a circle. At one point, the whole herd came in, and I closed the door,“ explains Volodymyr. “The male approached the edge, so I got him in a cage and released him in a different area.” 

The animals receive basic care. They are vaccinated and treated for ticks (after being lured into the enclosure, the herd gets sprinkled with powder that protects against parasites). In winter, they are given a bit of oats and corn. In summer, they are only given salt licks. Everything else is as it is in nature. 

Souslik’s comeback: How spotted ground squirrels get reintroduced

The tin fence glitters in the sun, almost hurting the eyes. “And this is a souslik’s nest,” Volodymyr explains.

Seventy years ago, Kasova Hora and the surrounding area were full of them. Ihor, an animal expert from a local village, said that sousliks lived in the area, and he used to chase them with his friends when he was a child. The spotted souslik is more widely known as the spotted ground squirrel (Spermophilus suslicus). In Ukraine, this species is on the verge of extinction.

People were deliberately eradicating spotted ground squirrels because they caused significant damage to farms and gardens. In addition, spotted ground squirrels need steppes and meadows to survive. These are also disappearing. Unplowed land is being plowed, resulting in fewer livestock to graze and clear the overgrowth. Just a little while later the species might have vanished from Ukraine entirely. Scientists are currently working to restore it, including here at Kasova Hora. UAnimals supported the entire spotted ground squirrel reintroduction initiative.

The spotted ground squirrels that settled at Kasova Hora came from the Lviv region. The area where they lived with others of their kind was partially plowed. Experts caught several animals there and relocated them to Kasova Hora.

The so-called nest of the spotted ground squirrels at Kasova Hora manifests as an area surrounded by a metal fence. In the center of it, there is a smaller mesh enclosure. The animals lived there for two weeks, getting used to their new home. Then this mini-enclosure was opened, and the spotted ground squirrels went to explore the half-hectare adaptation enclosure.

Won’t they dig under the fence? No, because the metal is 50 centimeters deep in the ground. There is also a camera there to observe how the animals are settling in. Soon, a camera with a greater zoom will be installed.

A ground spotted squirrel scurries through the grass, but unfortunately, I am too busy examining the camera. The burrows and tunnels are clearly visible, with sunflower husks scattered here and there. “They’ve eaten everything,” Volodymyr inspects. “We give them sunflower seeds, which are quite fatty. The animals need a lot of fat to survive the winter. In nature, they eat seeds and hunt for beetles: grasshoppers and locusts.“

The spotted ground squirrels have been living here since June 1. Later, they will leave this enclosure and live at Kasova Hora, wherever they like. Volodymyr and those involved in the project want the colony to grow to at least 500 animals. For now, these few are being protected from predators.

An electric fence has been installed around the enclosure for this purpose. “If a ferret or a fox comes along, it will sniff it, get shocked, and run away. And we have a scarecrow to scare away birds,” Volodymyr points out.

Even I am scared of this “man” as he moves eerily in the wind.

“I made it move on purpose. The ground spotted squirrel’s biggest enemy is the lesser spotted eagle. It will see a person and not attack. So this ‘man’ protects our colony well.” I take a picture of Volodymyr with the scarecrow. “You can call it ‘The Two on Guard for the Spotted Ground Squirrels.’”

Euphorbia volhynica is endemic to Eastern Europe (it grows only there and nowhere else in the world). It is also a relic, a plant that existed from prehistoric times, when nature was very different. It bears witness to earlier eras.

We encounter the pheasant’s eye (Adonis vernalis). Without the blossoms, it resembles dill. It’s also known as the yellow pheasant’s eye due to its vivid yellow color. The plant is used to produce heart medicine. However, you cannot use it to brew a cup of tea for yourself. It is toxic.

Here and there, Chamaecytisus podolicus grows. It is also a local endemic species that loves rocky slopes. It is protected by international nature conservation lists. The spiky fescue underfoot feels good to the touch.

We are in Opillia, the westernmost part of the region. During past geological eras, seas covered these highlands. Gypsum and limestone formed at the bottom, resulting in rocky slopes. These places were not cultivated, therefore they became relics (they were little affected by humans and preserved many species). These are the region’s richest ecosystems, with the greatest diversity of animal and plant species.

We climb to the top. It is windy. A Eurasian goshawk is hunting above us. From the observation tower, you can see how fragile this beauty is. Right behind the fence, soybeans grow thickly, corn is visible below, and the neighboring hill is covered in bushes. “There used to be steppe on that hill too,” Volodymyr points out. “But now it’s overgrown. Either it will be plowed up, or it will turn into low-value forest.” Such forests are not rich in terms of biodiversity. There are few species of plants and animals there.

We descended for a while through purple moor grass and eagle fern. These are undesirable species here. They are not characteristic of the steppe and grow densely, suppressing other plants. “We mow the fern, but it just grows back.” Dane weed and the European dewberry are also a nuisance. Hoofed animals do not eat everything. They avoid dane weed because it smells bad to them.

“This is a bad spot,” Volodymyr nods at the eagle fern and dewberry. “But these slopes are great.” They are gray with feather grass. Przewalski’s mare appears again and watches us with her shiny dark eyes.

Beyond ungulates and spotted ground squirrels

We sit down near some piles of earth. They look as if a small excavator had been at work there. In fact, this is the work of the Podolian mole-rat (Spalax zemni). It is an endemic species, found only in the region of  Podillia. It is truly blind. Its eyes shrunk because it does not need them, as it lives underground. According to a local legend, when the mole asked God to give him sight, God ordered it to dig as many piles of earth as there are stars in the sky.

Instead, the Podolian mole-rat has long incisors, which it uses to gnaw passages in the ground. It eats the underground parts of plants. It lives alone and only meets other mole-rats to reproduce.

At Kasova Hora, “the population has miraculously survived,” says Volodymyr. There is another one in the Mykolaiv region.

Among the mammals on the mountain, there is also a team of nine hares, all undergoing rehabilitation, from different parts of the country.

Where there are many plants, there are also many insects. A rare purple bumblebee lives at Kasova Hora—the splay-footed carpenter bee (Xylocopa valga). The female builds containers from pollen for each of her eggs. At the bottom of the hill, there are wooden houses ready to welcome this rare insect.

In addition to bees, Kasova Mountain is home to the Ukraine bright bush-cricket (Poecilimon ukrainicus), which is a wingless grasshopper. Only a few individuals remain in nature due to the disappearance of the steppes. Therefore, it is listed in the Red Books of Ukraine and Poland.

Another wingless grasshopper is the predatory bush-cricket (Saga pedo). They are a girls-only club. Males exist in nature, but they are extremely rare. Reproduction occurs without their participation. New insects develop from eggs without fertilization. This type of reproduction is called parthenogenesis. Grasshoppers are predators, catching other insects from ambush.

We wander through the grass to the wild apple. Finally, a bit of shade! Volodymyr searches the ground for a ripe apple, but there is nothing there. Finally, he picks one from a branch.

“You see, the ungulates eat everything. The apples are tart, but they like them. A badger also comes here to eat. He used to live in abundance here, but poachers constantly caught him. Now they can’t do it!”

In the collapsed slopes of the mountain, there are burrows of the European bee-eater, the sand martin, and wild bees. Volodymyr and an employee created one such place for birds by hand, using shovels. Birds have indeed settled there.

While I am looking at the feather grass, I am called down to another solitary tree. It turns out that there is also a cave there. “This is the cave of the peacock butterfly. They hibernate there, and lots of them gather here,” says Volodymyr, settling down in the shade.

The peacock butterfly is a red butterfly known to all of us, and its Latin name is Aglais io, in honor of the beautiful Io, one of Zeus’s lovers.

A camera trap is hidden in the crown of a wild pear tree to monitor which birds fly here. Magpies, great grey shrikes, Eurasian goshawks, lesser spotted eagles, and thrushes are captured on camera.

Another observation point is located on a different pear tree. We climb a wooden ladder to a small terrace right in the crown of the wild pear tree. For Volodymyr, this is also a place for coffee and reflection.

Brainstorming on a tree

“There’s plenty of work to do,” says Volodymyr, leaning back on a bench where a pleasant breeze finally cools the heat. “Right now, I’m building a field kitchen for volunteers. You know, the kind with big frying pans so you can cook potatoes, just like at home.”

The man plans to set up an enclosure for animals that live in water. There have already been four cases where rescued otters could have been settled at Kasova Hora. However, there was no space, and the otters had to be sent elsewhere.

However, the main difficulty is to fence off the other areas of the plot.  Volodymyr currently leases 71 hectares of property, 23 of which have already been secured with a fence. If the same is done in other sections, males can be separated from females during mating season, and animals that cannot live together in a single enclosure, even if it is huge, can be allowed. “Someone asked me to take the red deer, but I couldn’t. He would attack everyone up here.”

By fencing off the second plot, according to the plan, the center will be able to accept another 50 ungulates.

“Everyone benefits from the existence of the center here. The community benefits because I preserve degraded land and pay land tax. And I am happy because it was my dream,” says Volodymyr.

Nowadays, tourists visit Kasova, and distinguished guests come here. However, not everyone is satisfied. Some people really want to see the animals, but this is not always possible. The animals do not sit around waiting for visitors.

School kids also come here. The local schools have introduced outdoor lessons at Kasova Hora for various grades, starting with the 6th grade. “First, we have a tour, then we sit down and talk with the children,” says Volodymyr. “We teach them to be compassionate towards wild animals. We show them how animals should live. Wild animals should live in the wild.”

“Where did you get that bite from?”

“From the marbled polecat”

“Oh, you have such interesting animals biting you. Was this somewhere in the tropics?”

“No, in Ukraine”

While waiting for the shot of a rabies vaccine in the hallway of the Kharkiv emergency room, zoologist Volodymyr Yarotskyy tried to explain to people what kind of animal had bitten him. No one there had ever heard of such a beast.

What is the marbled polecat? It is a small but mighty creature. This carnivorous animal is similar to a European polecat, but it has its own peculiarities. It has long claws, strong muscles, and can scream loudly.

Returning the marbled polecat into the wild was an adventure in itself for Volodymyr Yarotskyy. Continue reading to find out how it went. You will also find out what the marbled polecat can do and what helps and restricts its reemergence in the Ukrainian steppes.

Face to face with a beast

Volodymyr shares, “In the summer of 2020, I was leading a tour to the Homilsha Woods National Nature Park [in the Kharkiv region]. And that’s when my colleagues called me and said that they had caught a marbled polecat at the biological station of the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Haidary is a village in the Kharkiv region.Haidary. We went there to have a look at the animal. It was in poor shape, and it bit me. I knew how to properly hold a ferret, just under its front paws. Then it can’t bite. In a marbled polecat, however, the tilt of the head is sufficient to bite your finger. The Mustelidae family, similarly to pit bulls, has the unique ability to bite through the flesh. Even though I was wearing welder’s gloves, the marbled polecat bit through them. It was my first encounter with an animal.”

The marbled polecat is a member of the Mustelidae family (aka mustelids), which includes animals that are both strong and plastic. Thus, it is related to the European ferret, marten, badger, otter, and skunk. And it has even more certain similarities to the skunk, but more on that later.

The animal’s Latin name, Vormela peregusna, comes from the Ukrainian language! The term peregusna is derived from perehuznya (перегyзня), which means “polecat” in Ukrainian. Vormela means “little worm”. Its body is very long and graceful, similar to that of a ferret or a weasel.

The species is known as the marbled polecat because of its color. The part pole, which means “chicken,” suggests that the animal is capable of stealing poultry. Yes, it did get caught doing this.

Marbled polecats prefer solitude. They spend time together only during the mating season.

In the article, Ukrainian zoologists refer to marbled polecats as the “occupied fauna”, i.e., animals that are not monitored by Ukrainian scientists. The scientific establishments, where the animal was safeguarded, are currently occupied, and the animal often shows up where there is active fighting.

Animals frequently play dead in the face of danger, a phenomenon known as apparent death. The most likely explanation is that predators are drawn to moving objects, and something that shows no signs of life will not draw their interest. However, some animals exhibit this behavior for different kinds of reasons. Certain snakes can wait for prey, whereas ants do so to avoid conflict.

Snakes, fish, insects, and mammals all pretend to be dead. For instance, possums. “Playing possum” means pretending to be dead or sleeping so that someone will not annoy or attack you. The black-footed ferret, skunk, and weasel can all do this. And the marbled polecat is an expert at playing the role of the dead.

But first, the marbled polecat will try other methods. When it detects danger, it stands on its hind legs and flashes its bright colors, which serve as a warning signal throughout the animal kingdom. In addition, the marbled polecat has special anal glands that can secrete a pungent odor. It also does this when it pretends to be dead or when it feels threatened.

Broken plans 

Volodymyr continues, “The girls placed the marbled polecat in a rabbit cage in an abandoned apartment that was cluttered with stuff.

I went to Lysychansk via Kreminna is a town in the Luhansk region, close to Lysychansk. Kreminna because I have family there. And I have a friend, Brian, from the US, who fell in love with Ukrainian forests and lived in Siverskodonetsk. I said, ‘Brian, can you give me a ride from Kreminna to Lysychansk? We need to pick up some rare animals, go to the forest, and release them. An hour there, an hour back…’ 

‘Don’t they stink?’

‘It’ll be fine.’ His wife was pregnant, and she was worried about the car being clean and her husband coming back as soon as possible.

I was going to vaccinate the marbled polecats against rabies, and I wanted to also take their paw prints and DNA material. But nope! It turned out that one of the marbled polecats had damaged the cage and gotten out. We spent three hours searching. We discovered it where half a brick had been broken off, behind the toilet. The animal curled up there, sleeping. We had to dismantle the toilet to get it out. Obviously, I was unable to do anything with the animals [vaccinate them and engage in research] because they were too frightened. We had to bring them to the forest, but I was bitten again.”

With its strong paws and long claws, the marbled polecat digs a spacious hole. Although when it is not in the mood to dig, it can sleep in someone else’s.

With the help of radio tracking, it was found that the marbled polecat covers up to one kilometer a day, rarely repeating its previous route and changing its den and territory of activity every 2-3 days. It spends time hunting, and when it is tired, it sleeps.

Temporary inconvenience

Volodymyr recalls, “When the marbled polecat bit me for the second time, I realized that I needed to get vaccinated against rabies.

Well, it’s 10 pm. We are going to an emergency room. They have no idea what the marbled polecat is there. And the rabies vaccine that was present contained six doses… Finally, they told me firmly that I needed to return for my next dose or find another vaccine from the same series.

They monitored me for two hours following the vaccination. Meanwhile, the marbled polecats were screaming. Plus, it smelled like there were skunks in the car.

Finally, when we went to release the animals, it was night . Brian brought me to Siverskodonetsk and said, ‘I’m not taking you to Kreminna, because my wife is waiting, but I’ll get you a taxi.’ And it was raining so heavily! Just a downpour! We also drove all over Siverskodonetsk in search of an ATM at two in the morning. We couldn’t see the road, there were streams of water everywhere.

In Kreminna, they quickly checked whether there was a batch of the vaccine I needed. And there was! So I got vaccinated there. And then I went home to Kharkiv and made 7 calls to get a referral for further vaccination. This is the twenty-first century, yet not everyone receives full vaccinations. People arrive on the first day, do not continue, and die from rabies.”

The boom of marbled polecats

Volodymyr elaborates, “In 2022-2023, there was a wave of mice in the trenches. At that time, there were many reports that marbled polecats were seen there. These are not very good stories, because these marbled polecats ended up in private hands. My colleagues from the NGO Ferret Galaxy and I called around to find out what the fate of the animals was. We were told that they were released. But it turned out that this was not always the case.

It happened that people realized that they could not keep a marbled polecat because it is a very special animal. Even though it appears adorable, it jumps at you, bites, and stinks. And then the animals get released. We know of two such cases.

This is the rarest species among mustelids. However, they are often captured.

Another marbled polecat I know of was in the Donetsk region. The animal was found near Kramatorsk is a city in the Donetsk region.Kramatorsk and was almost sold on the street. And then the man turned to Ferret Galaxy to consult about the maintenance of the animal… He swore that he had released the marbled polecat. But I don’t know if that really happened.” 

At the turn of the twentieth century, the marbled polecat was a common sight in the Azov steppes and on the territory of the modern Donetsk region. In the second half of the century, the animal began to die out.

The virgin steppe was plowed up more and more intensively, and cattle were grazed on what remained. The dogs that helped the shepherds herd their flocks caught wild animals in the steppes, including marbled polecats.

In the 1990s, scientists believed that only 100-150 marbled polecats remained in Ukraine. Gradually, cattle breeding in the East began to decline. And the predatory animal was seen more often. The revival of the marbled polecat began in 1998, as scientists later recorded. And since 2009, there has been a boom in the number of marbled polecats (if you can even call it that, given there have only been 29 of them identified over 43 years).

In 2010, a fight between two males was seen in Pryazovia is the geographic area of the north coast of the Sea of Azov, located in south-eastern Ukraine. Source: Wikipedia.Pryazovia, watched by another marbled polecat, probably a female. In 2016, a female was caught near Kramatorsk, which was a local sensation. According to the author of the study, 7 marbled polecats were found around Kramatorsk from 2016 to 2023.

In recent years, videos of marbled polecats from the trenches have been shared online. Last year, “a marble cat” was seen near a lake in Dnipro. And this year it was also spotted near Ukrainian military positions.

If you ever come across one, here’s a quick reminder: It is against the law in Ukraine to keep a Red List animal in captivity or to sell it.

The cover photo shows a marbled polecat at Magdeburg Zoo in Germany. Photo by Klaus Rudolph. Source: http://www.biolib.cz

The bus depot in the village of Bilohorodka was rarely in use. No one could say for sure when a van covered in brightly colored fabric appeared there. It seemed to be a circus van. It was heavily rusted. There was a bucket next to it, and someone had poured some sawdust on the bottom of the load space.

Once close to the van, a surprise awaits: Two bears are sitting in the back, each locked in a rusty cage about a square meter in size. The cages could barely fit the animals themselves.

This is exactly what animal rights activists saw when they arrived in the village of Bilohorodka in the Kyiv region in 2015. The owner introduced them to his “stars” — bears Yulia and Zoya. The animals worked in the entertainment industry, and after each performance, the bears used to get back to their cramped cages.

What happened to Yulia and Zoya next? How did the circus life affect the mental health of these animals? In this article, we are looking for answers to questions about the lives of Yulia and Zoya in particular and circus bears in general.

How and where did animal rights activists first encounter Yulia and Zoya? 

“I remember that day very well. It was June. There was a truck at the depot, not a very big one, more like a food truck. The cages were small, so they stood side by side in this van. The owner was also there. It seemed that he was a handler, but it was not clear. He didn’t tell us much,” recalls Taras Boiko, director at FOUR PAWS Ukraine. The organization still has the bear owner’s phone number, but the only thing you can hear by dialing it is “This number is out of service.”

It is not known for certain whether someone noticed the bears and informed animal activists or whether the owner himself contacted them. At the time, an expert on bear behavior, Maryna Shkvyria, was working as a consultant for FOUR PAWS, which supported a bear shelter in the village of Berezivka (Zhytomyr region). “I got a call from Yana Renk, an animal rights activist,” Maryna recalls. “Yana is no longer alive. She was killed by russians in the first days of the full-scale war. She told me about the van with the bears. She said the owner was willing to give them away. I took a taxi there, took a picture, and sent it to the organization’s management. They got it and replied, ‘Let’s take them.’”

Then FOUR PAWS staff came to Bilohorodka and signed an agreement with the owner to transfer the animals under their care. One of the signatures belonged to Taras Boiko, who recalls the words of Yulia and Zoya’s former owner. He was a young man, and he told Taras, “I can’t keep them anymore. They are of little use because they are old and sick. So take them away.”

The bears were loaded into transportation cages and brought to Berezivka. In 10 days, the enclosures were prepared, and the bears were eventually able to go there.

Four years later, Zoya and Yulia were relocated to the BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr, where they live today.

What was the state of the bears’ health?

Back in Berezivka, Zoya had many of her teeth removed, which had been previously damaged, as she ground them against the bars. Yulia had similar issues, so she also had to have her teeth treated.

Zoya was diagnosed with a whole set of problems: liver cirrhosis, bladder inflammation, a broken finger and claw, severe neurological disorder, and epileptic seizures. In addition, they found out that the bear was almost blind.

Both bears exhibited pathological behavior. They had severe stereotypic behavior.

“Yulia shifts from paw to paw and shakes her head,” says Olya Fedoriv, marketing manager at the BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr. “When visitors see this, they are happy that ‘the bear is dancing’. It is important to emphasize that this is a sign of stress, and it is not fun at all.”

Animals often respond to stress by making repetitive movements. Something similar happens to people. When nervous, some unconsciously twiddle their thumbs, some bite their nails or pencils, some rock from side to side. People with autism can repeat monotonous movements under stress. This is called stereotypic behavior. It also occurs in animals living in poor environments and cramped conditions. An animal starts walking in a circle, moving back and forth along the fence, shaking its head, or scratching itself. An elephant, a horse, a bear, a wolf, or a parrot can behave like this. When an animal has something to distract it, the behavior may not interfere with its life. The situation is different when it lives in a confined space and its days are filled with absolutely nothing. In this case, an animal can fixate on this behavior, often to the point of harming itself or ignoring other stimuli. Even when such an animal has a choice of what to do, it will not immediately overcome stereotypic behavior.

It may take a long time for an animal to give up its obsessive behavior and, for example, go exploring the enclosure.

It is usually not possible to completely overcome stereotypic behavior, especially in older animals. However, experts try to at least reduce its manifestations. For this purpose, they use so-called enrichment enclosures. There are special toys that stimulate the animals’ curiosity, make them move, and distract them from the behavior.

Olya Fedoriv shares what enriches the enclosures at Domazhyr, “We have a wooden box inside which an animal caretaker puts food. The bear has a very developed sense of smell. It smells the food and tries to get it. Bears do not break the box. They try to interact with the toy and eventually realize which board needs to be moved to get the food out. There is a wooden drum with a hole on top where an animal caretaker puts the food. The bear knows that he has to spin the drum and put his paw inside to get the food out.

There are bars to climb on, and some can be laid down on. And there are those on which food is laid out, and bears have to get it out. There are wooden balls, and animals love to play with them. If someone shows a strong manifestation of stereotypic behavior, animal caretakers react by throwing nuts with honey to the bears. The bear catches the smell, gets distracted, and goes looking for the nuts.”

What other circus animals have ever lived at Domazhyr? 

Even before Zoya and Yulia, a circus bear named Khrystyna lived in Domazhyr. She had been one of the first residents of the sanctuary. She is no longer there. Khrystyna died last year. However, it’s important to tell her story. Her autopsy showed many severe chronic diseases.

Khrystyna was a Himalayan brown bear. She had beautiful sandy fur. “This subspecies is used in the circus because the bears are small and compact. They are easier to transport and control,” explains Natalia Halayko.

Khrystyna was seized from her owner in August 2017. Natalia recalls, “The bear lived in a traveling circus. The owner traveled all over Ukraine. He transported neglected Khrystyna in a cramped cage. He would put skirts and all kinds of other outfits on her, and she would perform circus tricks. There is a village called Ivano-Frankove not far from us, and he came there with a performance. Back then, the ban on keeping wild animals in traveling circuses was in place. Animal activists, together with the police, seized the bear.”

There was an inflamed area on the animal’s neck, completely without fur, a place from which the collar had not been removed for years. Khrystyna was diagnosed with many chronic diseases. She suffered from arthritis, arthrosis, and had a severe stereotypic behaviour. Khrystyna had glaucoma in one eye, which had to be removed. The bear’s teeth had deteriorated, so the staff bought food for her that she was able to chew.

Khrystyna got used to her enclosure well. She loved to swim and bask in the sun. However, her chronic illnesses still bothered her. Two years ago, Khrystyna began to get very sick and was suffering a lot. At Domazhyr, it was decided to euthanize her. Khrystyna was 27 years old.

Why do circus animals have so many diseases?

When bears are kept in private animal collections, most owners cannot provide adequate nutrition, explains Natalia Halayko, deputy director of the BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr. The animals live in cramped cages, and their sedentary lifestyle is harmful to the musculoskeletal system. A circus animal is under constant stress: bright lights, lots of people, noise, applause, music, lots of smells.

Natalia Halayko explains, “It is clear that the bears from circuses were abused in their places of living. They have serious problems with vision, hearing, and severe stereotypic behavior.”

Sometimes in circuses or hunting stations, animals are harmed deliberately. Domazhyr staff does not recall any cases when someone was caught in the act, however, such abuse is clear from the conclusions of veterinarians who examined the bears. Natalia tells us, “Our Zoya is blind. Veterinarians assume that the bear could have been blinded on purpose so that it would not react to bright light. For example, sometimes animals are beaten with sticks on the cervical spine, which disrupts innervation. If we compare the health of a circus bear and an animal that was simply kept in a cage, the health of circus animals is much worse.”

It is not so easy to find out how an animal actually lived before it came to the rehabilitation center. “If an animal is forcibly seized, it is often not even possible to meet the owners, let alone learn in detail about the animal’s life. The owners do not always show up for a removal procedure. Sometimes they say, ‘You can come, and a representative will be there.’ We take the animal and that’s it.”

Bears used in the entertainment industry do not hibernate. This also affects the bear’s health. The processes in its body do not happen in a way that is natural for the species. “In the wild, it can happen that a bear does not finish eating and then does not go to sleep. But this is very rare. Next year, such a bear can go to sleep for the winter. However, in captivity, bears have no choice. They simply are not allowed to sleep year after year. Physiological processes are disrupted. During the winter sleep, the skin on the paws should regenerate, and fat should be burned off little by little until spring. But none of this happens.

In winter, bears don’t eat anything in the wild. In the spring, the animal eats a little, then the mating season begins and it loses weight. The bear starts eating a lot in August. By winter, the animal can increase its weight by up to 40%. In captivity, everything is different. Zoya and Yulia were very thin, and sometimes bears in captivity are overfed, and this also harms them.”

How have Zoya and Yulia settled in at Domazhyr?

Zoya’s enclosure is designed to allow her to move freely. She lives alone. It is dangerous to place her with others. The bears may fight, and this is a big risk for a blind bear.

Yulia is a totally different case. Two years ago, she was transferred from the adaptation enclosure to a big one. Bears Mania and Kvitka live in the neighboring one. “Perhaps Yulia will be able to socialize and live in a large enclosure with Mania and Kvitka,” Natalia hopes. “Mania and Kvitka also used to live separately. Now they eat together and sleep together. As for the relationship between them and Yulia, there are better days and worse ones. We hope that they will become friends. This is the fourth year of socialization. We are taking baby steps.

Socializing bears sometimes takes years. If successful, they live together. This improves their quality of life.”

Does a bear have a personality?

Of course, and what a personality it is! “The bears’ personalities are very different,” says Olya Fedoriv. “Some of our bears are very calm. They walk around slowly, and they are in no hurry. There are also active ones that run around from the early morning, then take a little nap in the afternoon, and then run and play again.”

Zoya is a sensible lady. She enjoys sniffing everything and often lifts her head up to smell the air. Yulia loves to play with the enrichments and demonstrates bizarre poses. Olya Fedoriv even created a special series of posts on social media called Yoga Poses by Yulia. The bear is especially fond of a log suspended on chains. Olya says, “She lays down under the log and starts shaking it with her four paws! Or she likes to sit in the pool. She sits there for a long time. She likes to put her face in the water, and only her eyes are visible. I call her ‘a crocodile’.”

Everyone in Domazhyr has their own preferences. For example, bear Masha is known for her love of tomatoes, and bear Potap loves fish. Zoya’s favorite food is bananas. Yulia is not a picky eater — she likes everything.

How does a bear mind work?

Natalia Halayko explains, “The bear’s intelligence is somewhere on the level of a dog.

The bear has a very good memory. 80% of the bear’s diet consists of plants, so they need to move through bushes where there may be berries or other food. So they create their own routes. Bears think over where to go for food.

Bears raise their cubs very attentively for two or three years. A bear can take in another bear cub if it is an orphan. It happens that a young bear gives birth to cubs and cannot teach them all the skills, then an older bear can take them away.

We went to the Carpathian Mountains and talked to local people. They told us that a bear, having noticed hunters, can go backwards to put tracks in the wrong direction and deceive people. These are truly animals able to think carefully.”

Scientists caution against attributing human traits to an animal. However, this does not mean that a bear feels good in a cage. The discomfort of an animal living in a cramped and poor environment is not only in restrictions of its movement. In such conditions, an animal has little sensory load, and in simple terms, it is terribly bored. This is especially true for animals with high intelligence. And bears are definitely among them.

The enrichment of the enclosures at Domazhyr is both to distract bears from the stereotypic behavior and to allow them some mental gymnastics. They even eat with special mannerism. They have their own ways of savoring their favorite food. Olha shares her observations, “We give them oranges. I’ve noticed more than once that they eat all the flesh and leave the peel. Once we brought watermelons. They pressed lightly from above, the watermelon cracked, they opened it, and ate the inside part. They do not swallow everything at once. They even put an apple on their paw and eat a little bit. However, the bear bites on it two or three times, and the apple is gone.”

What happens after rehabilitation and socialization of bears?

People often ask why the bears are not released from the rehabilitation center into the wild, Natalia says. “There are centers that take care of cubs from the wild, whose mothers have died, for example. They are taught to survive without direct human contact. If an animal is born in captivity and is used to humans, it is a huge risk. Perhaps the bear will cope in the wild. However, it will approach people, and that does not always end well.”

The bears that come to Domazhyr will live here for the rest of their lives. They are to some extent protecting their relatives in captivity. At the sanctuary, people can see bears in conditions close to nature and listen to stories about their fate. After that, it is unlikely that these visitors will have the desire to lock such an animal in a cage, put a skirt or a collar on it.

What comes to mind when you think about a wild hamster? If you just imagined a Syrian hamster, which is often kept as a pet, you might get the wrong impression about its Ukrainian relative. It is a real giant among rodents, as the largest ones weigh more than a kilogram!

The European, black-bellied hamster, or common hamster, is a true fighter for a place in the sun. It will desperately chase away anyone who tries to cross its borders. However, the European hamster, despite its fiery character, is under the threat of extinction. It is marked by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species as an endangered species.

The European hamster is fond of Ukrainian gardens, so many people think of it as a dangerous pest. “According to my estimate, more than a thousand hamsters are getting exterminated in Ukraine every year,” says zoologist Mykhailo Rusin. “Sometimes a video of a wild hamster will pop up on YouTube or TikTok. Half of the comments under it are something like ‘What a cutie’, and the other half: ‘This pest must be killed immediately’. When we write that it is a Red Data Book animal, the response is usually: ‘Then come and get your precious hamster out of my garden!’” That’s exactly what Mykhailo once did and founded the Hamster Rescue Center.

The team of experts actually catches wild hamsters in the area, provides them with medical treatment, and releases them into the wild. This initiative earned Mykhailo a special award at the 2024 Animal Protection Award by UAnimals.

Ready to throw hands

Does the European hamster have the behavioral features that other animals do not?

Yes, a defense stance. If a hamster is threatened by a person or animal, it stands on its hind legs and jumps at the perpetrator, trying to drive it away. This is a very characteristic behavior.

The hamster is a greedy animal. This is an adaptation technique to life in nature. It gathers food and stuffs it behind its cheeks, then brings it to the burrow and hits its cheeks, knocking it all out. When a hamster runs with stuffed cheeks, they are wider than its body. You know, it looks like a hammerhead shark with those big cheeks.

What does a wild hamster do during the day?

Hamsters can come out of their burrows during the day, but the main period of their activity is nighttime. Then the hamster gathers food and brings it into its burrow, into a special pantry. It eats plants, but it can also eat insects, even small mice or eggs of small birds.

By the way, the hamster never crawls into the soil, eating potatoes or carrots. This is done by completely different species.

What does the European hamster do in winter time?

Normally, it sleeps. It goes through a true hibernation. The body temperature drops to 8 degrees Celsius, and the heart slows down to one beat per minute. Like all species that are inactive in winter, the hamster puts on weight in the fall. It eats a lot to store fat. It also stores food in the pantry so that it has something to eat when it wakes up.

Aggressive dating strategy 

How do wild hamsters interact with each other?

They are true loners and do not form families. The male and female live separately, and they often beat and bite each other with their paws. A female can even kill a male — this frequently happens during mating. Although males are usually bigger, females are more aggressive and fight harder.

During their stay in our center, we always put them separately to prevent fights. If they are kept in groups, there is a high chance that only one will survive.

How do they react to other species?

Wild hamsters do not run from a fight. They get into their defense stance and start jumping to defend or attack. Sometimes, a hamster tries to chase away a dog or a cat in this way. Despite this, cats often kill hamsters, and this is a big problem.

Why do wild hamsters disappear? 

We have already mentioned that the wild hamster is endangered. How critical is the situation?

It is predicted that by 2050, hamsters as a species will simply disappear. This is based on a mathematical model built on birth and death rates. The hamster is a species that produces a lot of offspring. Under ideal conditions, a female is able to give birth to babies three times a year, and each litter can contain 6, 8, or even 10 hamsters.

This used to be the case, but in the last decade, litters have been produced only once a year. The number of babies in a litter is also decreasing.

In nature, the hamster does not care much about its offspring. The female usually leaves the young in about a month. At the same time, they have a high mortality rate, primarily due to predators.

If the modeled trend continues, scientists predict that the species may disappear completely.

Why is life getting worse for the wild hamster?

The climate is warming up, and winters are now less stable. Previously, the European hamster used to hibernate in November and sleep until March. Now it’s snowing, and on New Year’s Eve it’s raining, and then it’s snowing again… And the hamster goes to sleep and wakes up.

This is a very high energy expenditure. If the hamster is constantly in this change, the animal is exhausted. European hamsters often die during the thaw.

Wild hamsters are also threatened by many pesticides in the fields. The decline of small-scale farming also plays a role here. This is very important, as hamsters have always had plenty of high-calorie food in small gardens. Now, however, they are increasingly finding themselves in huge fields planted with a single crop. This is what the animal has to eat. However, according to research by French scientists, a mono-diet worsens a hamster’s health.

Do military actions affect hamsters?

I suppose so. There was a population of European hamsters northeast of Kharkiv. And it was through the area where the hamsters lived that the offensive took place in 2022. Everything there was dug up. There were trenches everywhere, and they became traps for animals.

The main thing is the human factor. Sometimes I see someone urging people to keep European hamsters at home. Such suggestions are criminal. Ukrainian laws prohibit keeping Red Data Book species at home.

Sometimes someone either buys European hamsters or offers to pay people for them at the center. This is such a shock to me! Red Book animals and plants should not be sold, ever, and to anyone.

I’ll just have a bite —the hamster’s motto

Why do hamsters go from the meadows to vegetable gardens?

They come there to eat. This creates a dangerous trap. On the one hand, hamsters like the fact that there is a lot of varied and tasty food there. On the other hand, people want to get rid of them, kill them, because they consider them pests. Moreover, cats and dogs also try to catch them. The Hamster Rescue Center exists to safely remove the European hamster from the human area.

Hamsters love berries, fruits, and vegetables. In the garden, they nibble on the vegetable and are not interested in the stem. They like to bite into sugar beets. They especially like strawberries. The wild hamster does not eat one strawberry completely but runs around and bites a piece off many berries. Sometimes it does it also with beets, zucchini, and cucumbers.

Once in the Rivne region, people saw a hamster and told us about it. They said that it didn’t really bother them. Until they saw how many strawberries had bite marks! We caught the hamster and relocated it.

Can it make a hole right in the garden?

Yes, but this is more common in places where people don’t walk much or where the yard is neglected. For example, elderly owners can’t weed out all the wild plants, and somewhere under a pear tree a hamster digs a hole. Or sometimes it looks for a place under a shed or under an outdoor toilet.

It’s quite easy to distinguish a European hamster’s burrow, but it takes some experience. Usually, it is a large hole. Often an entire arm can go into it. The tunnel goes either vertically downward or at a 45-degree angle. If it is a hole for winter, the depth is up to two meters. There may also be a mound, especially in early spring. If the hamster hibernates there, it clears the hole and takes out the soil. 

Note that hamsters never make surface horizontal passages. Those mean that moles or voles have been at work. Or even blind mole-rats, especially if it’s eastern or southern Ukraine.

How do people usually treat wild hamsters?

A woman from Kharkiv contacted us and asked what she should plant in her garden so that hamsters could live there! It seems that her neighbors had wild hamsters. She asked, “How can I make it so that I have more wild hamsters than them?” We agreed that she would grow alfalfa in half of her garden because wild hamsters love it. This story makes me quite happy.

The point is not in saving a few dozen hamsters from gardens but in gradually changing people’s attitudes towards animals. We want to move in the direction of having people treat them with more compassion.

From the garden into the wild

Let’s imagine that I see tiny bites on vegetables and realize I have a hamster in my garden. What should I do?

I would ask you to provide some proof. Show us a photo of the animal or a video on your phone. Sometimes people manage to film the hamster. But if a person has just seen a wild hamster and can adequately describe it, then we believe them.

If we find out that it is indeed a European hamster, we first persuade people not to kill it. And then we can go to their place. There we will try to catch the animal and release it somewhere away from people.

How can you catch a wild hamster?

It doesn’t look like an action movie. The hamster is nocturnal, so what do you do? Run around at night with night vision goggles? The hamster runs, and you chase it? It does not work like that. In the daytime, we inspect the area, find traces of vital activity, and then set up special live traps. If there are burrows, we set them near the burrows.

We put bait inside. The wild hamster does not miss anything tasty, and it will definitely get in there.

People without experience should not do this, even if they have good intentions. Hamsters can die. We have never had this happen because we are professionals.

There are all sorts of methods people use, like pouring water over the holes, but it’s just cruel.

Do you immediately put them in a box and take them away from people?

We transport them in a trap, as it serves like a cage. We try to release them where there are already wild hamsters so that the animal can find a mate. But we don’t do a “hard release”, when you just open the cage door, kick it under the butt, and move on! It may look good on video, as the animal runs beautifully away from the cage. However, this method cannot be used with a hamster.

If you release a bison or a wild boar, you just open the door for it and it goes away. No one can do anything to it. But literally everyone wants to kill or eat a hamster: birds of prey, ferrets, cats. In the new territory, the hamster is disoriented. We need to give it at least a minimal shelter so that it stays a little longer at the release site.

We make a hole about half a meter to a meter deep, put the hamster in it, put food in it, and cover the hole with something heavy. Recently, we have been using paving slabs that can be bought at a hardware store. We put a small supply of food inside, such as apples, carrots, and some grain.

Within a day, the wild hamster digs its way out and begins to explore the territory. In this way, we give the animal a chance to gain a foothold in a new area, as it will immediately have a shelter. Otherwise, it will simply run away, and all the work we have done will be in vain.

The Rehabilitation and Reintroduction Center for Rare Species in Kyiv Zoo is also trying to increase the population of the European hamster. Here, we breed hamsters according to a special program and then release them into the wild. The program has been in place since 2019.

Rehabilitation and Reintroduction Center for Rare Species 

How many wild hamsters live there now?

About 30. At first there were a few captured ones. Now there are only one or two hamsters from the wild there; all the rest were born in captivity.

Do you distinguish them somehow?

They are completely different. There are phlegmatic, calm ones, and very aggressive, even hysterical ones. The males try to spend as little energy as possible, you know, there are some lazy, fat males. Females are smaller and more anxious. Although there are also calm females and very aggressive males. One male bit me many times when I was examining him or weighing him.

Weren’t you wearing gloves?

They bite through any gloves! Their teeth are so sharp that they can even pierce special Kevlar animal handling gloves.

Aren’t you afraid to take them?

I am. Those incisors penetrate very deeply. There is a technique for taking wild hamsters as safely as possible. And even then, it happens that you can’t avoid being bitten. This is a problem when you work with animals: There is always a danger that you will be bitten or scratched. That’s why we don’t allow anyone to handle wild animals, except for those people who have been trained and instructed on that.

Where do hamsters from the Rehabilitation and Reintroduction Center for Rare Species end up?

We release them in the Tarutyns’kyj steppe in the Odesa region in cooperation with the organization Rewilding Ukraine. We have built enclosures for adaptation there.

Last year, we released a little over 20 animals into the wild. This year we will continue. We plan to release 50 hamsters into the steppe.

This year’s jury of the Ukrainian Animal Protection Award included several international experts, including Mark Randell, a former British detective and current animal crime investigator.

Mark served in the Sussex Police for more than 30 years, beginning as a patrol officer and later becoming a specialist in intelligence and covert operations. To collect evidence, Mark had to work closely with dangerous criminals and even to pretend to be one himself. Undercover, he investigated serious organized crimes such as murder, human trafficking, and illegal guns and drug trades. However, throughout his career, one category of crime remained largely unaddressed: crimes against animals. Upon retirement, Mark Randall began to investigate these crimes.

Mark founded Hidden-in-Sight, an organization that combats animal cruelty. Together with active police officers, media, and animal advocates, Mark continues his undercover operations. Does it make sense to dedicate time and resources to fighting crimes against animals when police officers have enough human problems? We talk about this and much more with Mark Randall.

“I can’t walk past an animal without talking to it” 

— Here’s a picture of Mark Rendall at the age of five. Who was that little friend of yours?

— This photo was probably taken by one of my two sisters. A little dog was a dachshund called Joe. I had him when I was five. He was one of my best friends, and we would get up to all sorts of mischief and bad behavior together. If anybody has a dachshund, you know that they are not always well-behaved. We were partners in crime. I once thought he would look better with stripes. So, he let me paint stripes on him with flour. We dug holes in my mom’s garden. We did everything together.

— Do you have any animals now?

— We have children, and I tend to look after their animals now. There are two rescued dogs here: Bonnie is from Bosnia, and Tatiana is from Romania. Bonnie is a dog that works things out, she is very intelligent. Tatiana is a bit crazy. Bonnie would be asleep on the bed because she is a princess, and the other one will be in the garden. They are so different. My daughter rescued them. 

— Do you feel a special connection with animals? 

— Absolutely. I like being around animals. I feel comfortable. I have conversations with them. Hopefully it’s mutual that we get on with each other. 

If I walk down the road and there’s a cat, I have to talk to the cat. I can’t ignore it. If there’s a dog or a horse, I have to spend some time with it. I can’t walk past an animal without talking to it. 

— What led you to work in animal crime investigations?

— When I ended policing, I wanted to work in this field because I loved animals, and I wanted to help them. 

Being a police officer should be about keeping vulnerable people safe and about protecting communities. When I started looking at those who were cruel to animals, I understood they were the same people who were involved in public crime that I’ve investigated as a police officer. They were sharing the same pathway, the same motivation. I didn’t understand why we [the police] treated crime against animals differently from crime against humans because there were the same criminals. 

It wasn’t that big a transition: I moved from being a police officer to explaining to other officers why animals are part of the community. So, when you are looking after a community, or a family, or a relationship, you need to look after everybody, and that includes animals. 

— In one of your previous interviews, you said that, as a police officer, you missed a lot by neglecting crimes against animals. What did you mean by that? 

— In 2007, I was investigating gunrunning and drug trafficking from the north to the south of England. The criminals who were bringing guns and cocaine were also involved in dogfighting. It was not part of that criminal business, probably they did it as a hobby. It’s much easier to do undercover work for dog fighting than to catch criminals with drugs. But we didn’t even look at the animal case. So, we never prosecuted them. We missed that opportunity.

How are animal and human abuse connected?

— I know you believe that those who hurt animals would be able to hurt people too. Could you explain why? 

— Criminals are generally lazy people, and they will find the easiest way to commit a crime. They don’t want to take too many risks. Abusers, who abuse people, will generally target the weakest within the group. They would possibly target a woman or a child in a household, but they would also target an animal. 

By harming an animal, they show people power and control. It can be a threat — they show people in the house what they can do to them. 

For example, an abuser could kill an animal, and that shows how violent he/she could be if people don’t do what they are told. It happens if somebody wants to sexually abuse a child, or a woman in a household.

Also, an animal could be a leverage. By abusing an animal, they say, “If you don’t let me do this, I will hurt your animal.” Abusers understand the relationship that we have with our pets, and they know how to have a major psychological impact on the caregiver. It could happen with a child, sometimes with an old person. You know, elderly people might only have their pets as company. 

Or it may happen as a part of traditional domestic abuse between husband and wife. It occurs on a regular basis in every country, as much as in Ukraine, in the UK as well. 

There’s a transition from those who hurt animals to those who hurt people. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they hurt animals first, and then they hurt people. They could hurt people and then animals. Or they could do it at the same time. If you understand how criminals and abusers work, you can prevent them from committing a crime in the first place. 

When you investigate a homicide, you can look at those who hurt animals in the past. Or if you have an animal crime reported to you, you need to take it seriously. If you know someone was hurting animals, particularly when he/she was young, that should indicate to you that there is an increased risk they are going to hurt people. You need to look at what danger that person poses to your community, and you can actually stop them from committing a crime in the future by recognizing that. 

It’s far better to prevent the murder rather than investigate it. It costs more money, more time, and more resources to investigate a homicide than to prevent it. 

— Last year, a court handled a case where a teenager cruelly killed a bird in front of his friends. The ruling required his mother to supervise him. In your view, was that a sufficient response? When we identify someone displaying animal abuse behavior, what steps can we take?

— Sending somebody to prison is only one aspect of criminal justice. 

An important part for me is that specialists could monitor a person identified as a danger to society. 

It may well be that there was a lack of education, etc. But if a person hurts many animals or does it in such a way that suggests that they can pose a danger to people around them, he/she could be monitored. There should be a system in place, people with the right expertise, and psychologists who can watch them in society. That can predict crimes happening. It’s all about understanding criminal psychology and understanding what happens next. 

Working undercover 

— Tell us about your undercover work. How does everything go? 

— There are different ways you can do that. With an organized crime group that I was involved in, you create a story around who you are, what your name is, and what your background is. 

You need to identify what that crime group needs. They want to sell you criminal products (guns or drugs, for example), so I would be a person they want to engage with. I would communicate with them to identify with drugs, guns, or dogs in dog fighting. They would tell me information, so I could go to prosecution or even to the media. I could do it myself, or I could work with a criminal who is motivated to talk about their criminal group. 

Some criminals like to tell everybody what they are doing, because that’s their motivation — to show who they are. And dog fighting is a good example. People like to talk about their abilities as dog fighters. So it’s not that difficult to infiltrate dogfighting. 

— You investigated dog fighting with the BBC in 2019, which became a big story. How did you get to the dogfighters? 

— On that occasion, I created a new identity. It’s not just about wearing glasses. It’s about being someone completely different whom they would want to talk to. I was an American from one of the seven states of America, where there’s a lot of dog fighting. I created lots of online identities. Then I would pretend that I want to buy a dog. I already have some good knowledge, and I want to buy their dogs. Then I need to talk about how important they are, talk about their work, and play to their ego. They are generally happy to tell you all about this, because they want to brag, and you use that. 

— Did you have to watch a real dog fight?

— No. When you work undercover, you have to try putting a delay in things because you can’t commit criminal acts yourself. You have to go quite close to a crime without committing one. When you are just about to commit a criminal act, you need to find a way for it not to happen. It’s difficult, but you should build a delay: Something happened in your family, or you have suddenly got caught, or you’ve been arrested. You have to say, “Sorry, I would have done it, but that and that has happened…”

But I’ve got them to send me live because, within the UK law, if I watch videos of dog fighting, that is not a criminal offence. On that occasion, I was allowed to watch it online. I got the information and the evidence I needed.

— Did you have to learn a lot about dog fighting? 

— The investigation took me 2.5 years. I spent a lot of time reading about stuff. Also, from a criminal perspective, not from an investigative perspective. Police officers don’t always see things the same way as criminals. They need to understand how criminals talk. All criminals have shared behaviors, and you have to know about them. 

— How did your family respond to your dangerous job?

— When you are working undercover, don’t let anybody know about your private life. If someone says, “What did you do over the weekend?” You might say, “Oh, I went shopping with my boyfriend, husband, my wife, and my children. You know, we went to the cinema…” You try to have a conversation without giving away any private information. 

I value that my family accepted what I’ve done. My youngest son is a police officer now. 

— Were you ever afraid?

— I did a lot of work on drug operations. I can think of one example, when I worked undercover. I was wearing a pair of jeans, and I had long hair at the time. There was a car, and I knew the passenger got a lot of drugs with him. As I walked past the car, I needed to seize the drugs. So I literally jumped into the car and grabbed the drugs. Because I’ve done it really quickly, there was no time to be afraid. Then I ran with the drugs, and we worked on the case.

When I was in a situation that was particularly difficult, I probably would be calm because that gives you time to think. I think it’s important to slow down and think things through.

I’ve been doing undercover work in quite dangerous prisons. I had to pretend to be a prisoner. It was a bit frightening. 

There was no animal investigation I’ve been scared of. I think if you treat animals with respect and you understand what they do, you shouldn’t get into a dangerous situation. People are slightly less predictable. 

— Did you carry a gun during investigations?

— No, I didn’t, as a police officer either. In the UK, police officers don’t carry guns. 

— Except for the dog fighting case, what other situations have you investigated for the media?

— My colleagues and I made a film about pheasant hunting. Although these birds do not naturally live in Britain, hunting them here is considered something of a traditional sport. Pheasants are specially bred on farms in other European countries. Their lives, at least at the time the film was made, began in horrific conditions. Then they were transported by ferry across the English Channel and released into British hunting estates, where they were easily shot by hunters, not for food but for entertainment. Around 35 million pheasants were killed in a single hunting season.

I worked for the League Against Cruel Sports. Together with my colleagues, we wanted to show people what was really happening, and that’s why in 2015 we made a documentary about the lives of these pheasants. It became part of an ongoing campaign against bird hunting.
That same year, due to public opinion, the ferry companies that transported the pheasants stopped doing so. Most likely, they agreed because going against public opinion would have been financially unwise.

In Hidden-in-Sight, we investigated how monkeys are kept as pets. We did this in collaboration with animal protection organizations Born Free Foundation and Four Paws. Animal welfare groups used our photos and information in their reports, and these images made it into the media and were even shown in the British Parliament.
As a result, last March, the country banned keeping monkeys as pets. However, all the planned measures (such as licensing owners) will only come into force in 2026.

Often, rather than going to court to get a good picture or good story, the media is just as powerful. 

“To keep your society safe, look at animal crime”

— Do you have any data on how many cases there are annually in the UK regarding animal crime? 

— This is very difficult to answer because the reports of cruelty are very different from prosecutions, and data is not very reliable. In 2021, there were 400 prosecutions. In the first 6 months of 2024, there were 44,800 reports, but they may not all be crimes. 

— Was anyone put in prison?

— Yes, the first 5-year sentence was given to dog fighters last year. There have been quite a few criminals who will go to jail for animal cruelty. 

— How would you describe the global state of animal crime prosecution from your perspective?

— Most countries have similar situations. We have charities that fight crimes against animals in the UK, but getting the police officers interested is difficult. I don’t think any country is doing it really well. 

Different prosecutors, politicians, and police are starting to understand that taking animal crime seriously is really important. Since 2016, the FBI has recognized animal abuse as one of the offences which has to be reported to the national database. Some countries are starting to recognize it. France is training police officers. I am training in Greece. I was training in Kosovo for Christmas. 

Gradually, there are more and more police officers who understand that animal cruelty is rarely an offence which happens in isolation. It’s quite often a part of all types of crime. Criminals cross over all these boundaries. I think police officers understand more: They have to deal with all crimes properly. If you are a police officer who wants to keep your society safe, you absolutely need to look at animal crime. 

“Selling wild European hamsters.” I posted this ad on one of the country’s most popular online marketplaces, OLX. I promised healthy and active male and female hamsters. The European hamster is a species listed in Ukraine’s Red Data Book, so I set the price at a minimum of 800 hryvnias (~$20) “per piece.”

For half a day, the ad awaited moderation, but in the evening, it was rejected. This item was on the list of those prohibited for publication.

However, soon after, I made a second attempt. This time, I omitted the full scientific name of the species but provided a detailed description of my endangered fluffies. And just like that, the ad was approved.

I didn’t have a single hamster, and I had never even seen a wild hamster in my life. But if I had one, I could have easily violated the law. Yes, Ukrainian legislation does prohibit the sale of Red Data Book animals and plants. Despite this, such sales were, until recently, thriving openly on perhaps the country’s largest online marketplace platform. 

A Lynx on OLX

On September 7, 2023, near a shopping mall in the Obukhiv district outside Kyiv, two cars pulled up. A fashionably dressed woman and another woman with a notebook stepped out of one. From the other car, a man emerged holding a cat carrier.

— Did you bring the documents for the animal? — the woman with the notebook asked.

— Need documents? We’ll make them! Hold it in your hands, don’t be afraid!

The man took a small lynx out of the carrier and handed it to the stylishly dressed woman. Of course, she should hold it — to fall in love with it and finally decide to buy it! She had been considering it for two weeks. A wealthy young mother had responded to an OLX ad in which the man was offering a lynx. Her daughter had recently watched the “Mavka” cartoon and fallen in love with a character named Kvus, who resembled a lynx kitten. The girl desperately wanted a pet lynx. The man was asking $3,800 for the animal.

As soon as the mother took the lynx kitten, the police appeared. The animal was forcibly confiscated. The stylishly dressed woman was Marina Ivaniusko, a lawyer from the animal rights organization URSA. The organization’s founder Yaroslava Koba, who devised the sting operation, played the role of the assistant with the notebook.

“We asked whether it bites, what to feed it, whether it should be sterilized, how much space it needs. In messages, they assured us it was one of the easiest animals to keep, that it wouldn’t mind living in a house and eating cat food,” Yaroslava recalls.

The man claimed he bred adult lynxes with a male once a year and sold the offspring. The confiscated young lynx was underweight and had numerous health issues.

“It was impossible to go to their location and verify that they were breeding animals — they don’t disclose their address,” says Yaroslava. “At the man’s registered address, there were no lynxes. To track him and search the premises, a warrant is required, but in Ukraine, this is only considered an administrative offense, so no search warrant is issued.” As a result, the seller got off with a fine.

The lynx kitten was named Ursa. It is now undergoing rehabilitation at the Wild Animals Rescue Center in the Kyiv region. Efforts are being made to find it a shelter abroad where it can live in at least semi-wild conditions.

“When this lynx was confiscated, my phone didn’t stop ringing,” recalls lawyer Nina Arzamastseva, who provides legal support for crossing the border with animals. “Strange people were calling, asking if they could get the confiscated lynx back. I started asking them questions. In the end, I told them: forget about it.” 

Not Just the Big Ones

The law prohibits the sale and purchase of not only bears or big cats but even the smallest animal listed in the Red Data Book. That’s why I decided to start my experiment with a hamster.

However, the endangered wild hamster isn’t actually that small — it can weigh up to half a kilogram. It also has a habit of gnawing on everything in the vegetable garden, which is why people usually want to get rid of it.

At the Hamster Rescue Center, they urge people not to kill these animals but to report them to zoologists. Specialists then capture the hamster and relocate it to the wild. The head of the center, Mykhailo Rusin, has often been advised, “Pay people for the hamsters, and garden owners will be more willing to hand them over.” These advisors didn’t even realize the absurdity of their suggestion. And that wasn’t the strangest case. “There was an instance where some unknown individuals wanted to buy up hamsters for 2,000 hryvnias (~$50) each — who knows what for,” says Mykhailo. “We refused, and the matter ended there. But who knows? Maybe they found poachers willing to supply them with animals. We don’t know that.”

One of the most frequently listed Red Data Book animals on OLX were mustelids — ferrets and marbled polecats. Or maybe they were just the most documented cases since zoologists from the Rehabilitation and Care Center for Mustelids in Ukraine have been closely monitoring online marketplace websites over the past few years. Whenever they spotted an ad selling a rare animal, they would contact the sellers and negotiate persistently. The outcomes varied: sometimes, healthy animals were successfully returned to the wild; other times, cases ended in the animal’s death. Like this one did.

In 2020, in the Donetsk region, someone posted an ad for a “domestic ferret” they had found on the street. Experts came across the listing and immediately recognized the animal in the photo — not a ferret, but a rare marbled polecat. The Center’s staff began negotiations. At first, they asked the sellers to release the polecat back where they had found it, if it was healthy. The sellers refused, claiming the animal was limping. Eventually, they agreed to hand it over to a volunteer.

Vika Moiseyeva, director of the Rehabilitation and Care Center for Mustelids, recalls: “When they handed over the polecat, they demanded a ‘reward’ from the volunteer for ‘saving a rare animal.’ The volunteer immediately took the polecat to a vet. There were no issues with its legs, but it had a head wound. In the photos taken right after the animal was caught, there was no visible injury. The wound was a result of holding a wild animal in a space unsuitable for this species. In its attempts to escape the cage, the polecat had injured its forehead. The animal did not survive rehabilitation.”

In 2022, a steppe polecat ended up in private ownership in the Lviv region. The owner also listed it for sale. After a conversation with zoologists, he agreed to release the animal. However, things didn’t go as planned. It turned out that after months in captivity, the polecat’s health had deteriorated. All four of its canines — essential survival tools for ferrets — were broken.

“Most likely, it broke them itself on the cage bars while trying to escape. Later, it developed signs of epilepsy, so the little one had to remain in captivity,” says Viktoriya.

Some animals were successfully rewilded. In 2021, six European polecats that were put on sale in the Dnipropetrovsk region got lucky. The sellers handed them over with little resistance. Initially, though, there were seven polecats, but they gradually weakened, and one didn’t survive. The remaining six underwent rehabilitation and were released back into the forest.

A telling case occurred in the Volyn region in 2024. “We met a man who had ended up with five European polecats. He gladly handed them over for rehabilitation. As far as we know, the animals had been caught by a poacher who was trying to sell them through acquaintances. We released the polecats back into the wild. Later, the same man contacted us again — asking if he should buy an adult polecat from the poacher as well. We asked him to provide information about the poacher.” But that never materialized.

Buying a wild animal is just as much a crime as selling one. As long as there is demand, there will be supply.

Fish Too

Black caviar and sturgeon meat have become so popular worldwide that sturgeon species are now on the brink of extinction. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), sturgeons are currently the most endangered group of species among all such groups.

The Danube basin and the Black Sea remain the last places in Europe where sturgeon populations are self-sustaining, meaning new generations of fish continue to appear. Wild sturgeon fishing has been banned in all countries that have territory within the Danube basin and the Black Sea coastline.

Despite all laws and agreements, sturgeon continues to be traded illegally, with the Odesa region being one of the most active hubs for this trade. Between 2016 and 2023, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recorded 94 cases of illegal sale or purchase of wild sturgeon in Ukraine.

According to various documents analyzed by the WWF, more than 930 kilograms of sturgeon meat and over 50 kilograms of caviar were bought or sold during this period. However, the organization states that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

After the shelling of Odesa began, access to the Danube and Black Sea shores was restricted or even prohibited in some areas. Nevertheless, some people still manage to reach fishing spots — 12 such incidents were recorded in 2023.

There have even been cases where officials, whose duty it is to protect the fish, were involved in illegal fishing. In September 2022, police detained two employees of the State Agency for Fisheries. They had been extorting monthly payments from commercial fishers in exchange for allowing them to fish without interference. These officials permitted excessive catches, including of sturgeon. In return for catching beluga and starry sturgeon — both rare species — the men received 50% of the catch’s value as a bribe.

Is There a Legal Way to Buy a Red Data Book Animal?

Obtaining Red Data Book species for sale (e.g., capturing animals in the wild) is explicitly prohibited by Article 19 of the Law of Ukraine, “On the Red Data Book of Ukraine.”

The Code of Administrative Offenses also effectively prohibits the sale of endangered animals, though the wording might not be obvious to someone without a legal background. The relevant clause refers to the “violation of the procedure for acquiring or selling objects of the animal world” (Article 88-1). However, no such regulation (“procedure”) officially exists. There are, of course, regulations relating to the sale of animals, but they are scattered across various other provisions. In this case, this is the Law “On the Red Data Book of Ukraine” and certain international regulations. Anyone who sells or purchases a Red Data Book animal in Ukraine faces a fine ranging from 1,700 to 3,655 hryvnias (~$41 to ~$90) and the confiscation of the animal.

The sale and purchase of any Red Data Book species within Ukraine are strictly prohibited. However, in some cases, such an animal may be purchased abroad and imported into Ukraine.

The IUCN Red List compiles all species worldwide that are threatened or at risk of extinction.

The international trade in rare animals is regulated by an agreement known as CITES — the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. This agreement includes three appendices listing species. Depending on an animal’s status, trade may be strictly regulated or completely prohibited. Appendix I contains all species threatened with extinction. Trade in these animals is banned, though it may be allowed in exceptional circumstances and for non-commercial purposes.

A CITES permit is required to transport a wild animal across a border. Without it, at the very least, the animal will be confiscated at the border.

In some European Union countries, rare animals can be legally bred and sold. In such cases, a Ukrainian citizen can purchase an animal by obtaining a CITES permit. Once in Ukraine, the animal must be registered with the State Environmental Inspectorate. According to lawyer Nina Arzamastseva, birds of prey — such as saker falcons and peregrine falcons — have been imported into Ukraine through this process.

There are breeders in Ukraine who legally breed exotic animals — those not part of the country’s native fauna and not listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine, though they may still be protected by international law. At the same time, a black market for these species continues to thrive.

Middlemen sell animals from illegal breeding operations, where they are born and raised in completely unsuitable conditions, the lawyer explains. “I received information about a panther cub that died,” says Nina Arzamastseva. “It was kept in such terrible conditions by these traffickers that it never reached a healthy weight. Someone bought it, and the cub died in the buyer’s hands. These black-market breeders have even created a non-governmental organization that issues documents for animals of any species whatsoever. The middlemen refer their clients to this organization, which provides all the necessary paperwork — registration certificates, and various certificates of origin. But in reality, these documents have nothing to do with the animal’s true background. That’s what happened with this panther cub.”

Until about a year ago, the OLX marketplace was flooded with ads selling Red Data Book animals, according to Nina. The platform now enforces stricter controls on prohibited listings, but the illegal market remains active: “People are still creating Telegram channels for sales, closed-group chats — even for Red Data Book animals. Everything has just moved under the radar.”

Main image: Charitable Fund Ukrainian Rehabilitation and Care Center for Mustelids

Bison, deer, foxes, and hares bathe, hunt, and play in his photos, living their wild lives. However, it wasn’t these animals that brought Viacheslav Mishchenko global recognition, but snails. A photograph of a snail earned him awards in two categories at the prestigious International Photography Awards in 2014, and a book featuring his snail photography was published in Japan. Japanese publishers hailed him as a brilliant Ukrainian photographer.

Viacheslav Mishchenko lives in Berdychiv, Ukraine. By day, he is a dental technician at a military hospital. Often, on the same day, he is also a wildlife photographer.

Coming home from the hospital, slightly breathless and busy, Viacheslav eagerly tells us about his passion — photography.

Immersion in the Microcosm: How Mushroom Picking Can Change a Life

— Where was your latest photoshoot?

— Yesterday, I went to the forest with my grandchildren. We found some mushrooms — honey fungus and oyster mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms are unusual, and I wanted to photograph them… and I found some! I love foraging. My father got me “hooked” on it. He was an avid mushroom picker who made me a small basket and took me along to gather mushrooms.

That’s what got me into macro photography. While mushroom-picking with my father, I’d see bugs, spiders, and snails moving about… It was so interesting for me as a child! This love for the micro-world has stayed with me ever since.

My overall love for nature also came from my father. He was a mathematician by training, but in Berdychiv, he took courses and began teaching drawing, crafts, and drafting at school. He also worked as a freelance school photographer, so I witnessed the magic of photography as a child. He bought me my first small camera, a Smena, when I was ten years old — that’s when my long journey in photography began.

Then came the era of digital photography, but I didn’t have a camera. Instead, I painted. It was a joy for me! I became the head of the Vernisazh Union of Independent Artists and Folk Craftsmen and led it for 11 years (2002–2013).

One day, a friend sent me a camera — a Fujifilm — simply as a gift. That’s when it all clicked! I began taking a lot of photos, especially macro shots. I’d go to the forest and spend hours photographing.

On Land

— How do you find wild animals to photograph?

— Whether I’m photographing a deer or a snail, I first study the area where the animal is likely to be.

Most of the time, I set up A blind is a shelter used by hunters or nature photographers. blinds made of branches or camouflage netting. Sometimes, I pitch a tent and cover it with something. Occasionally, I shoot from my car or hide in a cornfield.

For example, let me tell you how I tracked black storks. I photographed them in Bystryk, a village near Berdychiv. It’s very convenient for me to go there because I live on the edge of the city. I brew some coffee, get in the car, and by the time I reach the location, I’ve finished my coffee. There are many lakes here, each home to its own birds. Over the past 15 years, I’ve come to know their nests and feeding spots.

Black storks are very rare. They build their nests far from people. Before migrating, they feed at lakes in Bystryk to gain some strength. In the summer, I saw them in the fields. I knew they’d stay for 10–12 days before leaving, but I couldn’t find the lake where they were feeding.

Storks like to visit lakes at dawn and sunset, and then, they can spend the rest of the day in the fields. I drove around the lakes for several days until I finally found them.

One evening, I prepared a spot where I could lie down. I brought a mat and camouflage netting. It’s the kind our soldiers use to cover tanks. I added a few branches on top so I could see the birds, but they couldn’t see me. Even the slightest movement makes them flee. If they spot you, one screeches, and they’re gone.

The next morning, I left at 5 a.m., parked my car far away so they wouldn’t hear it, and made my way to the blind. Ideally, you arrive before dawn, while it’s still dark. I waited in the forest, wondering—will they come, or won’t they?

— Have you encountered any other rare animals besides storks?

— There’s the largest butterfly in Europe — the great peacock moth (Saturnia pyri). Its wingspan is 15 centimeters. I’ve photographed it. There have also been bison. I made a special trip to Brody in the Lviv region to photograph them. Next year, I’m planning to head to the Belarusian border to photograph capercaillie, which are also rare.

— How did you photograph the fox cubs?

— It was early May. I saw the vixen once, then a second time… Sometimes she’d be carrying fish, other times she had a mouthful of mice. If she’s carrying food, it means she has cubs. So I started looking for the den. You need sandy soil and a kind of slope. And I found it! She had made her den so well that you wouldn’t notice it unless you were looking carefully. But it was very close to the village… Nearby, there was a cornfield, which is a perfect hiding spot for a fox. Corn is good for hunting birds that land there. 

I arrived when she wasn’t around and spotted the cubs first. They were curious about me and started coming out of the den. If the vixen hadn’t returned, they would have approached me and cuddled up to me.

But she caught my scent, yelped, and the cubs hid in the den! They didn’t come out again until she returned and yelped once more. I spent three hours sitting there with my camera, but it was all in vain.

However, I outsmarted her. She went out hunting, and I started bringing chicken wings to the den. The cubs would come out just a little, and I photographed them.

On the Water and in the Water

— Do you often have to go into the water to take photos?

— Yes, because many birds live on the water. There’s the great crested grebe — a very photogenic bird. Their courtship rituals are fascinating. Then there are bee-eaters and kingfishers, which are so colorful! Just this November, I saw a kingfisher at a pond, even though it was cold, and they usually aren’t around by then. There are also swans here — two pairs with their young. They fight for dominance on the lake: the stronger one chases off the weaker. There’s also the night heron, or kwak, named after its call: “Kwak! Kwak!” I’ve photographed water voles, muskrats, ducks, coots, and herons — both red, white, and gray.

— I heard you have a heron friend?

— Yes, I’ve been photographing her for many years. She lets me get very close. I’ve named her Marfa.

Marfa always arrives at the same spot first, as if to say, “This is mine, and I’m not letting anyone else in!” If I get too close, Marfa scolds me too. One eye keeps an eye on the fish, the other watches me. She sets a certain boundary, and if you cross it, she flies off, returns, and just yells at you. Then you take two or three steps back and sit in a blind, chest-deep in water.

— Isn’t it cold and wet?

— That’s what waders are for! I put on my waders, get in up to my chest, and move through the water. Above me, I have a little shelter shaped like an upside-down “U.” I made myself out of foam, plywood, and aluminum poles from an old cot. On top, there’s a canvas cover. Birds are afraid of humans, but if something non-threatening moves through the water, they’re wary at first, but they get used to it.

It’s morning, it’s foggy, and you’re in your waders, chest-deep in water, waiting for about an hour for them to arrive. The camera is mounted on a tripod. You are holding it like a machine gun.

Once, I fell in. I was photographing frogs in Polovetske, a village in the Zhytomyr region. It was their mating season, and I wanted to get as close to the water as possible to make the shots more impressive. Well, I fell into the water! Thankfully, my equipment wasn’t damaged, but I got soaked. I even got a funny photo out of it, which I titled A Male Dilemma: the frogs are mating, and the male is watching a mosquito with one eye. You can almost see him thinking, “Should I keep mating or grab a snack?”

Armed with Knowledge and Lenses

— What do you need to carry when you go on a trip?

— A bunch of lenses, tripods. You can’t do without them; they’re your tools.

— Have you ever weighed all of that?

— I don’t want to scare myself! I have three standard lenses: one with a long focal length, a macro lens, and a landscape lens. I don’t use ghillie suits much. I bring a mat, sometimes a cushion for the camera. When I prepare a blind, I want it to be comfortable because you might need to sit there for 3–4 hours. Birds can fly off and come back, and you have to wait. When I was photographing black storks, a car passed by — they flew away but returned later. Sometimes they get scared of me too. They got close to me. A stork came within six meters of me. It was too close to fit in my lens. The moment I moved, all the storks took off.

— Are there any animals that seem to want to be photographed?

— There aren’t. If you’re photographing a snail, it doesn’t care where it’s crawling. Though snails also have character. In good weather, they sleep, in damp weather, they crawl — early in the morning or late in the evening when the dew is heavy. But even then, it’s not always guaranteed you’ll catch them out.

— How do you entice a snail to pose?

— That’s a secret. I share those nuances during workshops. These are discoveries I’ve made through work, dreams, and curiosity.

— Have you learned anything about animals that you didn’t know before?

— Everything was new to me. I’ve photographed bugs whose names I didn’t even know at first.

I’m not a biologist! I didn’t know all the birds either. But when you photograph something for the first time, you get curious about what it is.

Whether it’s a ladybug or a praying mantis, it’s good to read up on them. It helps with photography. The same goes for mammals — deer, foxes.

— Do you have favorite locations?

— Over 15 years, I’ve explored various places. I know where to go for dragonflies, snails, grebes, or where a heron is waiting for me. It makes photographing easier.

Last fall, I went to Dzembronya. I wanted to photograph a bird that lives only by mountain rivers (the white-throated dipper, Cinclus cinclus). I took plenty of shots, but not the ones I wanted. You walk along the mountain river searching… but it’s fruitless. That’s what happens when the area is unfamiliar.

— What makes a photo stand out?

— The first thing that draws attention to a photo is the story. When there’s some action happening. It’s not just a snail — it’s a snail reaching for a droplet of water, or with a spiderweb in the background, or with an insect or a frog. And if the shot also has beautiful light and a captivating color palette, then you get a masterpiece.

— Do you follow any principles when photographing wild animals?

— The main thing is not to harm or disturb the animals. Nature is so fragile, it needs to be protected.

I’m against any kind of hunting. These animals — they’re miracles created by nature.

By the way, hunting is banned during martial law. And there are more wild animals now! I’ve never seen so many as I do now. In Bystryk, I’ve seen roe deer, even though there’s no large forest there. But I think that once the war ends, they’ll all be killed.

— Have you encountered poachers?

— It happened in Brody. We saw a car in the forest. I took a picture of the license plate and gave it to the forester. They investigated it, but I don’t know the final result.

Life Full of Adventures

— What are the most interesting moments you’ve witnessed?

— So many! This year, I captured a fox trying to hunt a hare. That area was also frequented by marsh harriers, particularly young birds. The harriers hunt and then land in the fields to eat. But foxes can smell food from half a kilometer away, so this one liked to drive the harriers off and take their meal.

A marsh harrier, a fox, and a hare — all in one photo. It’s incredibly rare for everything to align like that: the weather, the presence of these birds and animals in the same spot, and me being there! In 15 years, it’s the first time I’ve gotten such lucky shots.

There are plenty of failures too. My dream is to photograph a capercaillie and a crane. I’ve already made two trips near the Belarusian border to capture the capercaillie but haven’t succeeded yet. In spring, during their mating season, I traveled over 200 kilometers, spent two days there, and came back empty-handed.

— Don’t you feel like saying, “Forget it!” and giving up?

— Haha, that’s what makes it fun. It’s wonderful to have a dream.

I have so many photos of the white heron Marfa — a million of them! Yet every time she comes, I dream of capturing a shot I haven’t taken before. The fog, the splash of her wings…

— Which animal was the hardest to photograph?

— Deer in June in Bilokorovychi (Korosten District, Zhytomyr region). That shoot was tough. The area is swampy, and there were so many horseflies and mosquitoes, and they were huge! I thought they’d eat me alive. I brought repellent, but you can’t use too much because deer can smell it from afar. And if the wind blows their way… So you just lie there in the swamp, not moving.

Last spring, I had a similar experience photographing buzzards. There were lots of mosquitoes, and it was very hot. Inside the tent, I was sweating buckets!!!

Then the bird comes closer — five or ten meters away. Mosquitoes are sitting on your fingers, on your nose. But you can’t move. You just endure for the sake of a successful shot! Afterwards, you’re so bitten up it’s hard to look at yourself in the mirror.

— Do your colleagues and patients at the hospital know you’re a photographer?

— Most people at the hospital know. Although, earlier, I was better known abroad than in Ukraine.

In 2014, my photo of a snail won the International Photography Awards in the “Wildlife” and “Discovery of the Year” categories. That same year, a book featuring my snail photos was published in Japan. Japanese author Hisui Kotaro wrote Haiku is a genre of Japanese poetry.haiku to accompany each of my images.

“This warm photo book reminds those of us who rush and bustle daily of the importance of pausing for a moment and feeling gratitude for every day,” reads the book’s description.

In 2015, I attended the International Nature Festival in Namur, Belgium. Filmmakers, amateur naturalists, foresters, and photographers from various countries gather there. That year, King Philippe of Belgium also attended the festival!

— Don’t people ask, “How can you be both a dental technician and an artist?”

— They say, “How do you find the time? Here you are photographing animals and insects, and here you’re off to work.” Almost every day, I leave at 5 a.m. to catch the sunrise. By 7 a.m., I’m back home, because at 7:45 I head to the hospital.

I really dig it! When the sun rises, everything awakens, birds sing… Once, a herd was passing by… Mornings are great. I’ve been living this way for many years.

— Do you still paint?

— Painting is in another life now. But I’ll return to it because I’ve taken so many beautiful landscape photos of the Zhytomyr region, Dzembronya. It’s the highest-altitude village! There’s an enchanting forest there. I visited it in the fog — it was magical! I’m setting aside photos that I want to turn into paintings. There are so many amazing places, and I want to immortalize them on canvas.

Viktor Shapoval has led Askania-Nova for two months longer than the duration of the full-scale war with russia. Prior to this role, he served for 20 years as a research officer and head of the biomonitoring and protected steppe laboratory within the reserve, joining right after graduating from Kherson State University. Over this time, he has not only acquired extensive knowledge about the unique steppe environment but has also, as he says, developed a deep love for Askania. It pains him to watch from afar as the reserve suffers under russian occupation, a situation he shares in the following interview.

History and Significance

The full-scale invasion marks Askania’s third encounter with war, and military conflicts are fundamentally incompatible with preserving natural reserves. During the Second World War, German and Soviet forces ravaged Askania-Nova’s infrastructure, showing little regard for the animals’ welfare; the Germans even transported a significant part of the collection away. This happened during the First World War as well. Currently, only its distance from the frontline provides a degree of safety.

Askania-Nova was seized on the first day of the full-scale invasion without notable resistance as the fighting began closer to the Dnipro River and near Melitopol. There were only isolated clashes near the reserve, and damaged military vehicles were found on its outskirts. However, the level of combat intensity witnessed in other Ukrainian protected areas did not occur in Askania-Nova.

It wasn’t until two months later, on May 2, 2022, that representatives of the occupation authorities arrived. During their visit, I heard much “instruction” about the so-called “special military operation,” responsibility, and other such nonsense. I made my Ukrainian stance and a lack of desire to cooperate clear. That, unsurprisingly, was not well-received. I also stated the amount required to sustain the reserve, and from their reaction, I saw that they appeared “a bit” surprised. They assumed they could simply step in and “rescue” us but this happened to be too expensive.

I believe the reason for their initial delay in coming to Askania-Nova was banal: they prioritized capturing profitable farms and agricultural enterprises. There is no need to look for any environmental logic or understanding of the historical value of Askania-Nova in their actions. They were utterly disinterested in the history, cultural and ecological value, or international conservation status of the reserve. 

Money and Support

The reserve is a budget-funded institution, so we had a procurement plan, with the final stages of tendering scheduled for late February. Naturally, everything was disrupted, and we faced a challenge in sourcing food for the animals. This didn’t mean starvation struck immediately. We had some reserves, but the feed consumption in Askania-Nova is quite high.

The frontline severely disrupted and cut off all logistics — Askania-Nova essentially turned into an isolated island amid a swamp. We had no choice but to openly request help via social media. It was a risky move; it’s no secret that the FSB monitors social media.

When we posted our first message about Askania-Nova’s critical needs, we connected with Oleksandr Todorchuk [founder of UAnimals]. Late that night, he wired us a substantial amount. A person we had never interacted with understood the situation and trusted us. We used that initial donation from UAnimals to purchase the first batch of feed. And we are incredibly grateful.

All those willing to help, including international partners and charitable organizations, could only support us financially. Delivering supplies to Askania-Nova from [Ukraine-]controlled territory was impossible, and requesting it from the other side was simply immoral, and we rejected that idea outright. We purchased goods within the occupied territory from our local farms. Thanks to this assistance, we managed to sustain ourselves in almost autonomous mode for more then a year.

Duty and Responsibility

The question of evacuation was not open for me for a long time. The responsibility for the reserve rested squarely on me as the director. For employees whose presence wasn’t essential on-site, we implemented remote work. However, those who cared for the animals and plants remained in the reserve on their workplaces.

We are neither a library nor a trolleybus depot — you can’t close us for a certain period of time and ask the animals to wait.

I left on the last day before the annexation was announced, on September 30, 2022. During the seven months I was in Askania, we stabilized the situation — securing feed, building materials for routine repairs, and spare parts for equipment maintenance.

A budget-funded institution has specific obligations, such as preparing financial and scientific reports. While on occupied territory, I couldn’t fulfill these. By leaving, I was able to meet with our partners and arrange charitable funding for the reserve, managing Askania-Nova remotely.

Even in such challenging circumstances, the reserve operated under Ukrainian jurisdiction. It’s telling that on collaborator Volodymyr Saldo’s channel, there was information of Askania-Nova “sabotaging” the russian authorities’ orders for over a year — a recognition of our resistance by the invaders themselves. To me, “sabotaged” is too mild a term.

On March 20, 2023, Dmitry Meshcheryakov was installed as the occupation director. Since then, all charitable expenses for Askania-Nova’s upkeep have ceased.

We still receive information about what is happening in the reserve, but I no longer have direct leverage. We document all the damage to the natural and artificial ecosystems in Askania-Nova, develop proposals for assessing these damages, and relay this to the relevant authorities and agencies to ensure future compensation through reparations from the agressor.

Our scientific work continues. We received a certification confirming the institution’s status as a scientific establishment, we continue to carry out a research program, and publish the professional journal Bulletin of the Biosphere Reserve Askania-Nova. 

There are still many things that can be accomplished remotely. For example, we document all fires. Up until March 2023, we could inspect fire zones directly, but now we rely on satellite images.

Negligence and Lawlessness

In August 2023, there was a large-scale fire in the Great Chapelsky Hollow [also referred to as the Great Chapelsky Lowland] where hoofed animals are kept. Predictably, the invaders immediately blamed the Ukrainian Armed Forces, alleging that artillery fire was the cause. They even announced some sort of investigation, but judging by the silence that followed, they quickly realized their own involvement in the course of this “investigation.”

The lack of proper scientific and veterinary oversight in the reserve causes significant issues and animal deaths. For instance, in November 2023, three African buffaloes died on the Big Chapelsky Pod. You might ask why a warm-climate African animal was left in unsuitable conditions in November. The answer is simple: the occupation administration has no relevant experience. They failed to properly move the animals to winter enclosures. Another animal died from an injury caused by a vehicle — a buffalo fractured its cervical vertebra and died on the spot. We have reported all these incidents to law enforcement.

The animals also suffer from the constant flyovers of russian aircraft above Askania. In August 2022, during one such flyover, a nilgai antelope panicked and collided with a concrete wall. Environmental laws prohibit flying over reserves due to the stress it causes the animals.

The invaders are even stealing our animals. On December 1, 2023, they took seven animals, including two Przewalski’s horses. We notified the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, the National Commission for UNESCO, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through official letters.

The Przewalski’s horse is a species listed under a special appendix to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which russia has also ratified. But whether the terrorist state follows international norms is a rhetorical question.

Only the liberation of Askania-Nova will put a stop to the invaders’ unlawful actions. The only real safeguard against this is the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Currently, Askania is operating on inertia, surviving solely due to the dedication of the Ukrainian staff with many years of experience.

Yet, I have to give the occupation authorities credit — they’ve become adept at creating an image of “happy life” under the russian flag. The russians have now opened up excursion routes and are claiming it as an achievement. These routes existed long before the occupation administration arrived and even long before I was born — dating back to Friedrich von Falz-Fein (1863–1920) was the founder of Askania-Nova nature reserve complex.Friedrich von Falz-Fein. Only professional propagandists could so skillfully claim others’ accomplishments as their own and parade them as their achievements.

Liberation and Restoration

We are currently in a state of uncertainty. Only after the liberation will we understand exactly what needs to be restored in Askania-Nova.

It’s clear that the invaders will take some animals away, and some will die. But I believe some animals will remain — surviving even through catastrophic circumstances. We will work to restore their populations.

We might face a major demining problem in the reserve. The soil cover is also damaged by craters and trenches. The invaders started digging a trench even in the virgin steppe, but we managed to stop these insane actions. 

We know that trees are being cut down in the arboretum, and certain significant collections have already perished. We will need to restore the infrastructure, the territory, collection funds, and the natural ecosystems.

Through this experience, I can say that I’ve come to fully grasp a deep love and attachment to Askania-Nova, one that only became clear to me when I was deprived of it. I am no different from the hundreds of other enthusiasts working in the nature conservation field. It’s not highly profitable, but for us, it’s a calling. This is work that captures you and demands a natural reverence for nature. It’s a commitment for life.

This publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.

Main image: Viktor Shapoval. Source: Dim TV channel

“On February 22, 2022, we were in the park on an expedition. We had come to study the population of the Red Data Book species, Crocus reticulatus. It was so quiet,” recalls Oleksandr Khodosovtsev, an employee of the Kamianska Sich National Nature Park. “That was the first time we recorded a white-tailed eagle in the park, and by evening, we reached Puhach Cape. Around 4 o’clock, we set off for Kherson. Only 36 hours remained until the full-scale invasion.”

The invaders entered Kamianska Sich on March 9. After nine months, the Ukrainian Armed Forces drove them out of the steppe in the northern Kherson region, but the park remains under threat from russian forces on the left bank of the Dnipro. Enemy drones hover over the area, and combat engineers are clearing mines by the hundreds.

The park also bears the scars of the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam, as part of the former Kakhovka Reservoir’s water area used to be part of Kamianska Sich.

How has the war altered the landscape, and how does it continue to influence it?  What is happening in this nature park under constant fire? UAnimals Media spoke to the park’s researchers, who initiated its creation — Ivan Moisiyenko and Oleksandr Khodosovtsev. Both are professors at the Department of Botany at Kherson State University.

A Diversity of the Steppes

Most of Ukraine’s steppe reserves are located on the left bank of the Dnipro River and in the south. Kamianska Sich, on the other hand, preserves steppe ecosystems on the right bank in the northern part of the Kherson region. And what a steppe it is!

“This is an area of true, or temperate, steppe,” explains Ivan Moisiyenko. However, it’s not just that. On the south-facing slopes, there are fragments of desert steppe. Its natural zone in Ukraine stretches as a thin strip along the Black Sea. In addition, the park hosts species from the meadow steppes of the forest-steppe zone, such as Stipa tirsa and the European feather grass.

“Desert steppes are located 150 kilometers to the south, while the forest-steppe lies about 200 kilometers to the north. Yet all of these are present in Kamianska Sich! This is truly a unique diversity of steppes,” summarizes Ivan Moisiyenko.

The botanist is also proud of his discovery in the park: “During an expedition, I spotted an unusual grass. It turned out to be Psathyrostachys juncea. This is only the fourth recorded site in Ukraine and the first on the right bank of the Dnipro. Usually, Psathyrostachys juncea is found in the semi-deserts of Kazakhstan.”

Overall, about 500 plant species grow in the park, 10% of which are protected.

Why has the steppe survived here? Parts of it were once used as sheep pastures, so they were never plowed. The broad Mylivska and Kamianska ravines, with their limestone slopes where the Kamianka River once A meander is a curve in the channel of a river.meandered, also remained untouched. Ivan Moisiyenko and Oleksandr Khodosovtsev proposed to the government that this area be designated a protected nature reserve. They had been studying the steppe long before the park was finally officially established in 2019. Ivan recalls, “At first, the steppe seemed just vast. But as we started studying it, we discovered it was also incredibly rich!” And not just plant-wise. 

“That Mole Vole Ruined All Our Excavations!”

“Archaeologists were excavating a Late Scythian settlement. The site was riddled with holes, like Swiss cheese. They asked, ‘What’s been digging around here?’” Ivan Moisiyenko remembers when he was surveying the future park’s territory. The culprit was the endangered northern mole vole. “That mole vole of yours ruined all our excavations!” the archaeologists complained.

Kamianska Sich is home to a large population of mole voles, a small rodent that spends most of its life underground, feeding on the roots of plants. In Ukraine, it is classified as an endangered species.

Another creature that troubles archaeologists is the solifuge, a member of the arachnid family. “This unique species comes to us from the east, from Crimea, and can be found in Kamianska Sich. They look quite terrifying as they scuttle about!” Ivan says. “We had to hide from those solifuges during our expedition in Kazakhstan. They were huge, running around at night. I even saw them in Morocco. And now they’re here in Sich!”

Ivan Moisiyenko first encountered the solifuge in the Kherson region in 2017, and it was, without exaggeration, the meeting of the century. Together with his Polish colleagues, he documented the find in the Ukrainian Entomological Journal. While preparing the academic paper, they unearthed records showing that solifuges were last seen in the Kherson Governorate in 1886-1887. No one had seen them since — until 130 years later when a solifuge was encountered near Kamianska Sich!

The Park After the Invasion

The park was liberated from russian forces on November 10, 2022. On December 1, 2022, Ivan Moisiyenko and Oleksandr Khodosovtsev made their first visit back to the park after its liberation. They were greeted by tons of trash left behind by the invaders.

“We had heard about the ‘love for cleanliness’ of the russian military, but seeing it in person… It was shocking. There was an enormous amount of household waste; about 300 tons were removed from the park,” Oleksandr recounts. Nothing remained of the park’s property — its administrative building was in ruins. During the occupation, the russians took everything: office equipment, vehicles, and boats.

During their first visit, the researchers inspected the steppe slopes of the Mylivska ravine. On their second attempt to access the same area, the military blocked them, as the site had been remotely mined with “butterfly” mines, Oleksandr explains: “It’s still inaccessible because no one has cleared these butterflies.’”

On June 30, the scientists descended to the bottom of the former Kakhovka Reservoir for the first time. “The water had receded more than 10 meters vertically. It was like some kind of Martian landscape,” recalls Oleksandr.

Another remarkable discovery was the reappearance of the Kamianka River, which had existed in this area until 1956 and now flows again through the steppe. In the 18th century, a Cossack fortress called the Kamianska Sich is an administrative and military centre of the Zaporizhian Cossacks.Kamianska Sich, which gave the park its name, stood along its banks.

“Before, we studied nature. I [focused on] lichens while Ivan [studied] plants,” Oleksandr says. “We never thought we’d end up studying the impact of war on the environment. But from our first expedition [after the invasion], that’s exactly what we started doing.”

What Is Impacting the Park’s Ecosystem?

·       ALTERED LANDSCAPE

Explosions in the steppe have left craters—areas of Bombturbation is the disturbance of soil caused by explosions.bombturbation. russian forces also dug trenches and other fortifications on the slopes of the ravines. “The worst part is that a few trenches were dug directly in the untouched, virgin steppe within the protected zone. There aren’t many, but they’re there,” Oleksandr explains.

These fortifications alter the landscape of the flat steppe. Weeds quickly take over these depressions, making it difficult for steppe plants to grow.

“And it’s also a trap for animals. Burrowing animals dig into the trenches, fall in, and can’t get out — both insects and rodents. In Kamianska Sich, even a roe deer fell into a trench and died,” adds Ivan Moisiyenko.

According to park employees, restoring the steppe will require human assistance. Trenches need to be filled in layers: soil on top and limestone on the bottom. Seeds of steppe plants should be sown into the ground. However, this can only be done after complete demining.

·     MINES

“The impact of mining on nature is minimal. In some cases, you could even say it’s positive, mostly for the plant cover, since people can no longer access these areas for illegal activities. It provides temporary extra protection for the reserve,” Oleksandr explains.

However, in mined areas, no field research or monitoring can be conducted — only remote observations are possible. In addition, animals can trigger mines. Mines also cause chemical contamination of the soil that can persist for decades.

The park is being demined by its director, Serhiy Skoryk, along with six volunteer employees who underwent training to become deminers. They carry out the demining work partly on their own and partly in collaboration with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

As of early September, 639 TM-62 anti-tank mines were discovered and neutralized in the park. The workers handed them over to the National Police of Ukraine’s Tsunami assault regiment, which is part of the separate Liut (Fury) assault brigade. These munitions will be used to liberate the left bank of the Kherson region.

·     FIRES

“Fires that occur once every 5-10 years can even benefit the steppe, but frequent fires are harmful,” says Ivan. “Grassy plants generally aren’t affected by the fires; they have underground bulbs that allow them to regenerate the following year. However, shrubs suffer because their regenerative buds are located above the ground.”

According to the scientist, fires don’t cause catastrophic damage to the steppe itself. However, the frequency of fires has exceeded the “safe” limit. The area is constantly burning due to artillery fire or explosives from drones. While the park recorded only three fires in 2021, there were 26 in 2022, 34 in 2023, and more than 30 already in 2024, with the total expected to surpass 50 by the end of the year.

Oleksandr says that fire and heat affect different elements of the Lithophytes are plants that can grow on stones without soil cover. biotopes in various ways. He studies lichens: “If lichens are exposed to thermal radiation from an explosion in the early morning when everything is moist, they will die. We studied one such explosion site and found that within a 100-meter radius of the epicenter, the trees were alive, but the lichens on them had perished.”

On the other hand, lichens that grow on limestone are incredibly resilient. “We examined a crater in the rocky steppe after a Grad [rocket] hit and just a meter from the explosion’s epicenter, we found live lichens on the stones,” Oleksandr explains.

·    DAM DESTRUCTION

“In any case, the biggest impact on the park’s ecosystems came from the destruction of the [Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant] dam,” Oleksandr Khodosovtsev asserts. The landscape has since changed, and scientists now face the question: what will become of this territory? It was a disaster for aquatic ecosystems, which have simply disappeared. “However, the recovery of terrestrial ecosystems on the former Kakhovka Reservoir’s bed is happening at a rapid pace,” Oleksandr adds.

Many have heard of the willow thickets that have sprouted from the silt on the former reservoir bed. Even botanists did not expect nature to recover at such a pace. “But the slopes covered in meters-thick layers of dead shells are slow to regrow,” says Ivan Moisiyenko.

In his view, the spread of steppe vegetation to the slopes is being hindered by a strip of willows and reeds that grew along the former shoreline. Still, Ivan is confident that a so-called Lithophytes are plants that can grow on stones without soil cover. lithophytic steppe will eventually form on the shell deposits: “This is an ideal environment for such steppes. There’s no doubt that they will recover; it will just take time. If the war ended, we could launch a project to restore the lithophytic steppe.” This would involve mowing steppe plants and scattering hay with seeds onto the shell deposits. Otherwise, weeds will take hold first, slowing the steppe’s recovery.

In 2024, botanists visited the bed of the former Kakhovka Reservoir in the Zaporizhzhia region. The area was vast: the distance to the left bank was 15 kilometers. According to the researchers, the situation in the natural environment there is similar to that in Kamianska Sich.

It turns out that the willow thickets will soon become a forest. Previously, these thickets were only called a forest metaphorically, as a true forest has different layers. Now, those layers are beginning to form. Ivan explains: “This year, we observed a more complex plant structure and the development of layers. The tallest willows have risen above the herb layer — this is now the shrub layer; bryophytes have appeared, forming the moss-lichen layer. In our classification, plants taller than 5 meters fall into the tree layer. Next year, the tree layer will definitely appear, and a forest will have formed.”

The number of plant species on the former reservoir bed has also increased. During the first expedition, 11 species were recorded. During the second, 69 species were found, and in the third expedition to the Zaporizhzhia region, around 30 more species were discovered. In total, more than 100 species of plants have appeared in the area within a year.

Additionally, a protected species, rye sedge, was found on the former bed for the first time. “This indicates that the plant cover is acquiring conservation value,” says Ivan.

“They Directed Fire at Us”

Near Kamianska Sich, the Dnipro River is 4-5 kilometers wide, with its narrowest point being just 3 kilometers and 300 meters across. “You can see people walking [on the other shore] through binoculars,” says Ivan Moisiyenko. This area is easily reachable by russian drones and artillery, which regularly bombard the park. Despite this, the park’s security service and its director, Serhiy Skoryk, remain on-site, demining the area, monitoring fires, and keeping an eye on the water bodies.

Even in demined areas, research is impossible due to the threat from russian drones. Oleksandr Khodosovtsev recalls an incident in October 2023 when a reconnaissance drone hovered over him: “They directed fire at us. Five minutes after we moved away, they fired three mortar shells at that spot.” FPV drones, which are now frequently used, can be almost undetectable, and there isn’t always enough time to react. “The only defense against them is EW stands for electronic warfare measures that can jam drones.EW, but you can’t stay in a vehicle all the time — you’ll need to step out into nature. To properly document the vegetation on a monitoring plot, you need an hour. In that time, enemy drones will definitely spot you.” As for zoologists, they haven’t even been able to conduct research in the park, as their tasks require significantly more time.

At this point, the researchers are not only focusing on nature but have also begun collecting data on human activity. This includes the memories of park employees—nature protection inspectors — who, during the occupation, assisted the Ukrainian Armed Forces in destroying a significant amount of enemy equipment.

The botanists are also searching for information about the first Ukrainian soldiers who entered Kamianska Sich after its liberation. Oleksandr explains: “We want to learn the names of the fallen Ukrainian heroes who were the first to step onto the park’s steppe slopes and honor their memory. Unfortunately, their vehicle hit a mine, and they all perished.”

Reaching the Old Riverbed

Ivan Moisiyenko and Oleksandr Khodosovtsev are determined to continue their research, and they remain hopeful that, despite current conditions, they will be able to work directly in Kamianska Sich. So far, they have managed to visit the northern edges of two ravines, which were previously inlets of the Kakhovka Reservoir. Now, they aim to reach the Dnipro River’s course.

“I think Ivan Ivanovych [Moisiyenko] and I will experience a new emotional surge when we finally reach the Dnipro’s shore in Kamianska Sich,” says Oleksandr.

The researchers are particularly eager to reach the Dnipro’s original bank, which existed before 1956 and is now once again in its original location. They hope to explore the main riverbed and observe the liberated left bank of the Kherson region from the right side of the Dnipro. 

This publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.

We meet Leonid Myslyvets, the mayor of Oster, on the banks of the Desna, near the rescue station. He spreads a map of the community over the car hood to show the length of the riverbed—from the village of Bilyky in the north to Krekhaiv in the south, covering over 50 kilometers. Almost every day, rescuers go out on the water here to check if any dead fish have appeared along the shores.

Black Water

Oster lies on the Desna, halfway between Kyiv and Chernihiv. By car, it takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to reach from either city. Just south of the town is the Beremytske Nature Park, where green tourism had been promoted before the full-scale war. However, the russian invasion, followed by russia’s poisoning of the Seym and Desna rivers, significantly reduced the flow of visitors.

The pollution of the Seym in the Sumy region began around August 14, when the first reports of deteriorating water quality emerged. By September, it had reached the Chernihiv region. Social media was flooded with photos and videos showing hundreds, if not thousands, of dead fish along the riverbanks. There were fears that the contaminated water could even reach Kyiv.

From mid-August to mid-September, local authorities and volunteers in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions collected nearly 40 tons of dead fish.

“The poisoned water reached us on September 12. At that time, we set up two small aeration stations along the shore, and from them, we placed tubes into the water—one 40 meters long, the other 70. We punched holes in the tubes, following advice from the department [Desna Basin Water Resources Management],” Leonid explains. “The water is gradually getting oxygenated: our divers went down there and said that fish gather near the oxygen sources to survive.”

We head down to the pier, where we can hear a buzzing sound. These aren’t russian Shahed drones that fly along the Desna at night. Near the water, there are two small pumps, each providing a flow of 400–450 liters [100-120 gallons] per minute. Tubes extend from the pumps into the water, and from the middle of the river, you can see bubbles being carried along by the current.

“The water still isn’t bright and clear enough, but on September 13, let’s say, it was like tar, and there was a dark residue along the banks. Now there’s much less of it. But if the situation worsens, we’ll install more aeration stations—we’ve already arranged with local businesses to add four more of varying capacities,” the mayor of Oster states.

While chatting, we put on life vests brought by Oleksiy, a rescuer. He helps us settle into a boat, starts the engine, and steers us to the middle of the river. We speed upstream. Both banks are empty. Occasionally, a solitary gull soars above the water, or a kite circles high in the sky.

“Fortunately, it didn’t come to a fish die-off in Oster. There’s a key indicator—the level of dissolved oxygen in the water. The normal value is 7 milligrams per cubic decimeter or higher. Ours dropped to 5, and below 4, fish begins to die. Another indicator is chemical oxygen demand, also measured in milligrams per cubic decimeter. The normal level is around 30, but ours reached 50 or more. I know that upstream, it could reach more than 100,” Leonid explains.

A drop in the first indicator and an increase in the second shows that a chemical reaction is consuming oxygen from the water. When fish start dying, they begin to decompose, which also requires oxygen.

“If there’s a fish die-off, they need to be collected quickly. We were prepared for this and are still ready because we read reports of more pollution being dumped into the Seym. The rescue station has six boats and nets to retrieve the dead fish. Even some locals have offered to help. So, I hope we’re ready if it comes to that,” says Leonid.

We approach the boundary of the community along the river. No dead fish are visible along the shores. Currently, in Oster and throughout the Desna and Seym, there is a ban on using the water for any purpose, swimming or fishing. But this doesn’t stop the locals. As we moved upstream, we saw several fishermen: one casting from a boat and two others from the shore. When they noticed us, they pretended they were just relaxing and that the rods and reels weren’t theirs.

“What can you do about them?” Oleksiy chuckles. “Some people just don’t care about bans. I hope they don’t get poisoned. At least at the market, they try to control the sale of dead fish. But how do you control it on the river? Sure, we go out every day, travel upstream. But we can’t be going back and forth all day,” the rescuer complains.

Oleksiy steers our boat into an old part of the riverbed—the natural course of the Desna. The one we had traveled earlier was dug during Soviet times. The Desna, though navigable, was too winding, so they decided to dig a straighter course. During the fish die-off, the old channel became a refuge.

“The fish sought refuge in the old riverbed, these backwaters, to survive. The water here was cleaner—people noticed that. You won’t see it now, though, because the water quality has improved,” explains Oleksiy, peering into the water. “Oh, beaver dens. I hope we haven’t disturbed them too much because beavers are the real masters here,” he adds as we turn back into the newer river channel.

On our way back, we spot tourists with a tent on one of the banks. Leonid remarks that these are the first he’s seen since the river pollution began. Before the full-scale war, up to 300-500 cars would pass through Beremytske Park, that is, its parking lot, every day.

“Usually, from late May to October, people would come to the Desna for camping. In the Oster area alone, there could be as many as 5,000 visitors during the season. Now, the shore is empty. As soon as the news of river contamination broke, people stopped coming,” Leonid explains.

We dock at the shore. The aeration stations are humming. The rescuers tell us that they keep running even during power outages, thanks to a dedicated generator.

How They Dispose of the Fish

The village of Slabyn, located 60 kilometers from Oster, is part of the neighboring Honcharivka community. We meet with the local elder, Serhiy Kraskov, also near the Desna. He’s currently giving an interview to British journalists.

Even though we’re standing on the steep right bank, the wind still carries the heavy, cloying stench of decay from the water. As soon as we descend, the smell hits us with full force. Dark patches are visible on the water, and along the shore, there are black streaks left by residue. However, there are almost no dead fish on the shore—they were mostly collected the day before. Nevertheless, among the shoreline vegetation, some dead crucian carp can still be seen, and a pike about a meter long lies nearby.

“The banks here are overgrown, so a lot of dead fish got stuck there. On Sunday, September 15, we walked along the shore and pulled them out with nets. We had people from the village council, the cultural center, and the medical outpost helping. There were also a few volunteers with boats—they took care of the opposite shore. That day, we gathered almost one and a half tons,” Serhiy recalls.

Simply discarding or burying the collected fish isn’t an option: the decomposition products could contaminate the soil and groundwater. Therefore, a special burial site is needed—a deep pit lined with concrete wells with a concrete bottom. These burial sites are sealed with a similar concrete cover and placed far from water sources and residential areas.

“In our community, there’s still a burial pit left from Soviet times, but it hasn’t been used since the 1980s. I remember talking about it with Chernihiv [the State Environmental Inspectorate in the Chernihiv region] when the foul water reached them, and they were also gathering dead fish,” says Serhiy.

We head out to see this burial pit. It’s a few dozen kilometers of driving along rough field roads. As the car bounces over the bumps, Serhiy continues talking about the die-off: many large fish perished. The biggest one he saw was a catfish about a meter long. They collected bream, crucian carp, and zander, and the most numerous were pikes.

“I don’t know how all this will recover. If both the large and small fish have died, who will lay the eggs? Unless we artificially restock. Plus, maybe something will come down from the upper Desna, where the poisoned water didn’t reach. But even if that happens, who can guarantee that this won’t happen again in a year or two? russia isn’t going anywhere,” Serhiy says in frustration.

We cross the highway connecting Kyiv and Chernihiv and head into dense wooded plantations between fields. In one of these plantations, we stop and get out. From there, we continue on foot along a packed dirt road leading to a deep pit. The closer we get, the stronger the stench becomes. The pit is about four meters deep, roughly the same width, and about ten meters long. If it weren’t for the two concrete wells, it could easily pass for a dugout for armored vehicles.

“Since September 13, I’ve been dealing with this burial pit. We urgently ordered concrete rings from a local business to line the wells. It turned out that in the forty years since it was last used, the burial pit had completely grown over with trees. There was no access, so we had to cut down some of them. Now, we need to lay an asphalt road here,” says Serhiy.

We approach the wells. One is empty, while the other is nearly full of bags sprinkled with chlorine. Despite the concrete lining, puddles are starting to form at the bottom of the pit—a result of the decomposition of the dead fish. The buzzing of green flies, seemingly thousands of them, is unbearable.

“Since we’re a starostat [an administrative unit headed by a starosta—a village elder], bureaucracy moves slowly here: we can’t make quick payments, especially on a Friday evening. But I’m grateful to the local businessmen who delivered the first three concrete rings already on Saturday. And on Monday, September 16, they brought three more. It was all based on trust—they trusted that we’d pay them later. But we needed to bury the fish immediately,” Serhiy explains.

The community ordered a second well just in case, anticipating a larger die-off. However, by September 17, the number of dead fish had decreased, so it wasn’t needed for now.

The filled well will eventually be sealed with a concrete cover and buried. A fence and warning signs will be placed around the perimeter of the burial site so that locals won’t accidentally unearth it a decade or two from now.

New Pollution Incident

On September 17, Serhiy Zhuk, the head of the Environmental Inspection in the Chernihiv region, told UAnimals media that the situation in the rivers of the Chernihiv region had finally improved: “The fish are no longer dying. I can say this because I personally walked along the banks. We still find dead fish, but these are ones that died 3-5 days ago, surfacing from the bottom or from under the roots. Of course, the Seym and Desna waters are still unsafe for swimming. Almost all life there has perished, and an unpleasant odor persists. However, the levels of oxygen, ammonium, and iron are normalizing.”

The Chernihiv and Sumy regions are still calculating the damages, which are currently estimated to be around 450 million hryvnias.

This environmental crime has clear russian involvement. The Department of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of the Sumy Regional State Administration believes that wastewater from a sugar factory in the village of Tyotkino, in russia’s Kursk region, entered Ukrainian rivers. This conclusion was drawn after analyzing satellite images: they show that in early August, the wastewater accumulation basin at the factory was full, but by the second half of August (when reports of pollution in Ukrainian rivers emerged), it had emptied. Moreover, laboratory analysis of the water found substances “specific to sugar production.”

This is not the first time that russian activities have polluted Ukrainian rivers with wastewater. Oleksandr Yemets, a research associate at the Seymskiy Regional Landscape Park, recalled that this had happened at least twice before: in 2011, when an accident occurred at the treatment facilities in Kursk, and the dam near Tyotkino deliberately released polluted water into Ukraine, and again this year at the end of May. On those occasions, fish and crustaceans also perished. Each time, the incidents increased the risk of extinction for a unique species of the region, the Desman, which is on the Red List of endangered animals.

Unfortunately, this might not be the last such environmental crime. On September 16, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources reported further deterioration of water quality in the Seym. Samples taken in the village of Manukhivka (about three kilometers from the russian border) indicated a drop in oxygen levels. Once again, russia is the most likely source of this pollution. However, identifying the exact origin and cause of the contamination is difficult due to ongoing hostilities in the Kursk region, which borders Sumy.

As of September 25, polluted water reached Baturyn in the Chernihiv region. The dissolved oxygen level, as mentioned earlier, was less than one—ranging between 0.3 and 0.8 milligrams per cubic decimeter. In the Sumy region, between the villages of Mutyn and Ozarichi, the oxygen in the water was completely depleted. The next day, the situation in the Seym in the Chernihiv region worsened further.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection assures that this pollution incident is not as severe as the one in August, and the rivers should be able to recover more quickly. However, if a fish die-off occurs again, the border communities will once again have to collect the dead fish from the banks.

This publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.

There’s a persistent stereotype that swamps are nothing but rotting, darkness, and treacherous bogs that will immediately swallow you whole. I only agree with the last part: swamps do pull you in—you can’t help but want to explore their unique features more and more. This exploration is both desirable and necessary for preservation.

First, let me clarify: in this text, for simplicity, I refer to wetlands as “swamps.” Wetlands are divided into five categories: marine, estuarine, lacustrine (lake), riverine, and palustrine (marsh). All of these types are carefully protected and studied globally because they are incredibly valuable.

In fact, as far back as 1971, world leaders established the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. The countries that ratified this convention committed to creating nature reserves to protect swamps. To date, 172 countries have ratified this convention—Ukraine joined in 1996. Unfortunately, not all significant wetlands have yet been designated as Ramsar sites.

So why is it so important to care about swamps? Because they are natural reservoirs of fresh water. Contrary to popular belief, the water there is not stagnant or rotten. Thanks to special soils—peats—water in swamps is naturally filtered, and the vegetation on their surface slows down evaporation under the sun.

Swamps also absorb seasonal water surpluses, protecting people from floods. They act as local temperature regulators during particularly hot periods, which is why they are so crucial in our era of climate change.

Moreover, swamps are hubs of life and species interaction. About 40% of Earth’s living organisms reside, reproduce, and feed in wetlands. Each finds a safe and comfortable niche within the waters. For example, birds like the Eurasian penduline tit, the aquatic warbler, the marsh warbler, and the great reed warbler build their nests in the heart of swamps, where it’s moist and out of reach for predators.

The Ramsar Convention particularly focuses on protecting waterfowl. And it was through birds that I became involved in wetland research. Completely by accident.

It all started with a childhood dream of buying a house by a lake. In 2019, I made that dream come true, and by the spring of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I had settled near Lake Supii. The village I moved to has only one street, with gardens that lead straight to the water. This is how I became a constant spectator of nature’s theater and one morning, I witnessed something extraordinary: about 100 mute swans filled the sky and then descended onto the lake. Until then, I had only seen such sights on National Geographic. This sight moved me so deeply that I started to explore our swampy surroundings more actively. Eventually, I registered a civil society organization to study and protect the local environment.

Since then, I’ve learned that our region has a long history of swamp destruction for agricultural achievements. During the Soviet era, drainage systems were built on the Supii and most small rivers in this part of Ukraine, and the rivers themselves were straightened and channeled. Their natural winding courses were redirected through canals, and the areas where the rivers used to flow were planted with sunflowers. In this way, wetlands were industrially converted into arable land, disrupting natural processes.

I’ve met with the Ukrainian scientists who planned and implemented these drainage projects. They told me their intentions were positive: to increase crop yields and boost the country’s economy. Now, they acknowledge that even if we restore all the rivers “broken” back then, only about 20% of the ecosystem would recover. The rest is lost. Forever.

Still, agricultural machinery continues to plow closer and closer to the edges of the swamps near Lake Supii each year. To understand how this affects nature, our organization constantly monitors local biodiversity. Almost daily, we record the flora and fauna in the same areas using the iNaturalist app by National Geographic. We also track bird populations with the Merlin Bird ID app by Cornell University.

For instance, this summer, we noticed that due to plowing near the swamps, the population of the aquatic warbler has decreased. This is a vulnerable species listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.

To preserve our vulnerable bird species and their habitat—the swamp—we need to create Ramsar sites on Lake Supii and other wetland areas. The Ramsar Convention must not just remain a signed piece of paper—it must be actively implemented. As an activist, I believe that what helps the most is raising awareness and fostering a sense of responsibility for nature in each of us. That’s why I never tire of explaining: swamps are valuable ecosystems, meticulously designed by nature, and our task is simply to study them without interfering.

The texts in the Columns section reflect only the author’s opinion and do not necessarily align with the position of UAnimals media’s editorial team.

The Red Data Book of Ukraine currently lists 687 animals, each with unique behaviors and perspectives on the world. Which rare animal from our selection best reflects your character? Perhaps you like to delve deeply into things, much like the desman dives to the riverbed? Or maybe you’re keen on exploring new horizons, like the brave and curious lynx? Answer the simple questions in this quiz to find out which Red Book animal you most resemble!

In early May, a forest in the Chornobyl Biosphere Reserve became the scene of another tragic incident. Border guards heard an explosion near their post. When they deployed a drone equipped with a thermal camera, the image it captured was heartbreaking: a rare Przewalski’s horse, listed as an endangered species, had triggered a landmine.

This year, Ukraine’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources stated that our country is the most heavily mined in the world. Forests, meadows, and waterways in the east, north, and south of Ukraine are not only littered with mines planted by the invaders; Ukrainian forces have also laid explosives to defend the borders.

Mines in Nature Parks 

Serhiy Kubrakov, director of the Desna-Stara Huta National Nature Park, periodically visits the ruined Desnyanka camp. There, he photographs an unexploded Grad MLRS rocket. “This rocket has been lying on the porch of one building for a year and a half,” says Kubrakov. “Fishermen have also reported unexploded Grad [rockets] stuck in the riverbank. This is what we’ve found. Who knows how much more is out there, embedded in the ground?”

A map reveals the extent of the danger: red zones mark areas that are mined or potentially dangerous, while yellow indicates possible mine contamination. 

Many nature parks and reserves fall within these red zones. In the Sumy region, for example, national parks like Desna-Stara Huta, Hetman National Park, and Trostianets, along with the regional Seymskiy Park, are affected. In Kharkiv Oblast, the Dvorichna National Nature Park is also under threat.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine notes that natural areas, regardless of their ecological value, are demined last. In liberated territories, deminers prioritize areas where people live first, followed by roads and critical infrastructure. Only afterward do they move on to agricultural land and, finally, forests, meadows, and water bodies.

Even if deminers were ready to begin clearing natural areas today, most of these places are accessible only to the military. Fighting continues in many forests and near river floodplains, making humanitarian demining impossible under fire.

The Desna-Stara Huta park stretches along the state border with the Russian terrorist state. It includes the floodplains of the Desna River, which are partially accessible to park employees. However, the Stara Huta forests along the border are heavily mined by both Ukrainian and Russian forces.

“There have been incidents where our border guards nearly triggered anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. Enemy sabotage groups frequently enter the area, setting up booby traps and planting anti-personnel mines,” Kubrakov explains.

The park is littered with not only mines but also unexploded ordnance. While there is no official prohibition from emergency services, Kubrakov warns, “You can head in any direction, but it’s a one-way trip. Besides the mines, there are also Russian saboteurs. Last year, they shot at a milk truck and killed 10 people, including pensioners.”

Another park in the Sumy region, Seymskiy, is constantly shelled from the Russian side of the border, and its riverbanks are reportedly heavily mined.

Dvorichna Park on the Oskil River in the Kharkiv region, adjacent to the border, currently lies in an active combat zone. “We have no access to the area; it’s constantly under fire. The extent of the mining is unknown,” said park employees.

The first park close to the front lines where demining has begun is Holy Mountains in the Donetsk region. Almost the entire territory was liberated in October. After demining, park management plans to plow firebreaks—strips of land cleared of brush and other flammable materials. This will help prevent forest fires caused by shelling.

Forests near the Belarusian border are partially accessible to park staff and visitors, but they, too, are heavily mined. Blueberry and mushroom pickers are warned by special signs, although some have tried to use them as firewood or even as stakes for their tomato plants. Nevertheless, most foragers stay clear of the dangerous areas.

Do Animals Trigger Mines?

“These incidents are not uncommon, though they don’t happen daily. Since the death of the Przewalski’s horse, we haven’t recorded any similar cases,” says Yuriy Shakhraychuk, a press officer with the 9th Border Detachment.

In February of this year, near Makariv in the Kyiv region, a moose triggered a booby trap. A similar incident occurred in May in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, where a female moose was killed by a mine, and her calf, despite the efforts to save it, also died.

“In 2022, we spent a week working with combat engineers near Bakhmut,” recalls an infantryman from the 30th Brigade who wished to remain anonymous. “The combat engineers were setting up tripwires throughout that time. Every night, some animal would trigger them. It could be a fox, a boar, or a hare. We were expecting an enemy advance, but by the time they attacked, almost all the tripwires had been triggered.”

However, documented cases of animals triggering mines are few, as it’s challenging to confirm what exactly happens in remote, mine-filled forests. “I’m always in touch with the military. They report that sometimes in the forest, where there are certainly no people, isolated explosions can be heard. It’s highly likely that wild animals are triggering these tripwires. No one would dare investigate an explosion in the middle of the forest, as it could cost them their life,” explains Serhiy Kubrakov, director of the Desna-Stara Huta Park.

Before the full-scale invasion, the park was home to bears, lynxes, capercaillies, numerous moose, and even occasional bison and deer. Whether these animals still inhabit the forests is unknown, says Kubrakov: “The entire territory needs to be surveyed. We don’t know how the fighting has affected animal populations, including rare species. Once we regain even limited access to these areas, such as along cleared paths, we can start drawing conclusions.”

Mines pose a threat not only in forests but also in water. From March 2022 to July this year, 68 carcasses of Black Sea cetaceans were found in the Tuzly Lagoons, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The likely causes of death include bombings and underwater mines. If the animals didn’t die immediately, they succumbed later from their injuries.

What Types of Mines Threaten Animals and When?

“The corpses of animals with limb or torso injuries are a telltale sign of a minefield, something all soldiers are trained to recognize,” says Yuriy, known by his call sign Ram.

Yuriy is a professional soldier. Although he’s not a combat engineer by training, he has learned just about everything about mine safety. He became an instructor in this field with the Ukrainian Legion, a civil society organization that has been teaching basic military skills since 2014. He explains the dangers that mines pose to living creatures in forests, meadows, rivers, and seas.

Not every animal that touches a mine or unexploded ordnance will cause an explosion. If a mine is pressure-sensitive, the outcome depends on the animal’s weight and whether it is walking or running. Each mine has an activation force (or sensitivity) measured in kilograms. For example, if a mine’s sensitivity is 5 kilograms, something weighing that much or more must press on it to trigger an explosion.

Pressure-Sensitive Mines

Yuriy shows pictures of deadly “tin cans” on his rugged military laptop. The international Ottawa Convention, which Ukraine has signed, prohibits our forces from laying anti-personnel mines. Russia is not a signatory to the convention.

Some of the most common anti-personnel mines laid by Russians in Ukrainian fields and forests are PMN and PMN-2, with sensitivity ranges of 8–25 kilograms. PMN-4 mines, with a sensitivity of 5–15 kilograms, are also frequently encountered. These mines pose a danger to many wild mammals, except the very smallest: hares (4–10 kg), foxes (3–14 kg), wolves (45–60 kg), wild boars (60–200 kg), roe deer (20–37 kg), and moose (360–600 kg). These mines can be dangerous for years before they are defused.

“Butterfly” mines (PFM) are used along the entire frontline. They are launched in large numbers from special dispensers and scatter randomly on the ground. Spotting a mine of this type is difficult: they are small, made of plastic, and even those who deploy them don’t know exactly where they land. While these mines usually don’t kill, they can cause severe bleeding and suffering. Their activation force ranges from 5 to 25 kilograms.

Anti-vehicle mines, which detonate under pressure, have higher sensitivity thresholds: the TM-57 mine requires 200 kilograms to activate, while the TM-62 series is triggered at as low as 120 kilograms. Some of these mines are cylindrical, while others resemble tin cans, similar to anti-personnel mines.

Anti-vehicle mines pose a threat to larger animals. “You won’t find these mines in dense forests, but they might be placed on clearings or roads,” says Yuriy. “If a moose decides to take a well-trodden path instead of trudging through the underbrush, it could be fatal.” These mines can also be set in steppe areas—anywhere without bogs or steep slopes.

Mines with seismic, magnetic, and infrared sensors are also used. These theoretically respond only to vehicles.

Mines with Tripwires

A tripwire is a wire or fishing line that connects a detonator to a tripwire-activated mine. Anyone who triggers the wire causes an immediate explosion. The tripwire can be set at a low level, where it might catch a crawling hedgehog or at shoulder height for a human. Any animal that exerts enough force to trigger the tripwire will most likely be killed.

Russians frequently use the OZM-72 mine, another elongated “can.” It is buried in the ground, with the detonator connected to a tripwire. This mine has a sensitivity of 500 grams. If an animal or person touches the tripwire, the mine jumps out of the ground, explodes in the air, and strikes the victim with shrapnel.

The most sensitive mine commonly encountered is the POM-2. These mines are deployed through remote mining systems, which scatter them across the ground. A tin can with explosives lands on the ground, with four tripwire darts falling around it. “They scatter chaotically; one might land on a tree, another on a flower, and one could just lie on the ground. You stumble on it, pull the wire with a force of 350 grams… Even a hedgehog can do that,” Yuriy explains. This mine has a self-destruct mechanism that should activate no later than 100 hours after deployment.

Mines in the Water

Anti-landing mines (YaRM) are grayish cans hidden beneath the water’s surface. They are equipped with a cross-shaped sensor, also submerged. There is little to no chance of spotting one. The trigger force for these mines is 600 grams. Mines like these can be found in the Dnipro River and its tributaries in the Kherson region, “The explosion causes a powerful hydrodynamic shock, killing many fish.”

Another danger in coastal areas or shallow waters is the PDM-1M mine. It is a semi-sphere with a rod that is usually covered by water. If the rod is displaced with a force of 18 kilograms or more, the mine will explode. “Over time, these mines can break free from their anchors and drift out to sea after a storm. The destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant sent many mines into the Black Sea, where they drifted towards Turkey and Odesa. If a mine breaks loose, it will float like a buoy until it hits something. That could be a dolphin or a person who brushes against it with their hand or an oar.” At a few meters’ distance, the mine will kill anything nearby, while those farther away may suffer concussions.

Why You Shouldn’t Go Mushroom Picking in Former Combat Zones

“‘I won’t go mushroom picking in the forest,’ is an old combat engineer’s favorite saying,” Yuriy quips darkly. Until deminers provide a qualified assessment that an area is clear, entering it is off-limits, he warns. “There could be countless tripwires… Some might have been disarmed by the military, but others could have been missed. A mine might be buried in the ground, camouflaged by turf, grass, or branches, making it impossible to detect without special equipment. Plus, a soldier carries two tourniquets with them. But a mushroom picker goes with just a knife and a basket… If this person triggers a mine, they could bleed out in the forest. The phone might not work, there’s no tourniquet—and then what?”

While animals can trigger tripwires or set off anti-personnel mines, the primary danger mines pose is to humans, “If a mine is lying under the snow, a hedgehog might crawl over it without issue. But a person, thinking they can follow the tracks—’a hedgehog passed here, so can I’—will be in danger. The hedgehog weighs a kilogram, but a person weighs 80.”

There are also mines that can explode just by a person approaching them, like the POM-3 mine with a seismic sensor. For this mine to detonate, one doesn’t need to step on it or trigger a tripwire. The seismic sensor detects the vibrations from a person’s steps and activates the detonator.

When Will We Be Mine-Free?

Let’s take a look at the map again and find the Falkland Islands in the Atlantic. For two and a half months in 1982, a war raged between Britain and Argentina over control of these islands. The intensity of combat was lower than in Ukraine, and the Falklands’ area is almost 50 times smaller than Ukraine’s. Yet it wasn’t until 2020 that the UK officially declared the islands fully demined—38 years later.

Some mines self-destruct after a certain period. Those without a self-destruct mechanism will remain a hazard for years, “These things can stay in a ready-to-kill state for decades. Metal and plastic can take years to decompose. Even if something is done incorrectly and water leaks inside, it won’t affect the mine’s lethality,” says Yuriy.

When will it be safe to go mushroom picking across all of Ukraine? 

Predictions after the first year of the war estimated hundreds of years. As new technologies and vehicles have been acquired and more demining operators have begun working in Ukraine, those hundreds of years have been reduced to decades.

According to calculations by James Cowan, CEO of the Halo Trust is a charitable organization that performs humanitarian demining. HALO Trust, one day of fighting in Ukraine equates to a month of demining. So, for now, we are at least 75 years away from being able to pick mushrooms safely in the Stara Huta forest.

This publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.

“It was the end of the day, the sun was setting. Luckily, we were rowing: leisurely paddling along. Suddenly, we saw it sitting there! It was gnawing on something on the water lilies. It noticed us, too — the contact lasted about 5 seconds. Then it immediately dived and hid under the lilies.”

Zoologist Oleksandr Yemets, a researcher at the Seymskiy Regional Landscape Park, has been studying the desman for many years. He has seen it in the wild only once in his life, and he says he was incredibly lucky.

The animal is so rare that all possible conservation documents protect it. In the Red Data Book, it has the status of a relict species at risk of extinction.

Moreover, the desman is very cautious. Upon sensing an intruder, it will dive to the bottom, sealing its snout with special valves. Then, it might even relocate from the area where it was disturbed.

The problem is that in modern conditions, the desman is disturbed everywhere — and in Ukraine, it is almost extinct. The only population of desmans remains in the The Seym is the largest tributary of the Desna. In Ukraine, the river flows in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions.Seym and its two tributaries.

Now, this area has become a battleground: explosions can constantly be heard in the once-quiet backwaters. So, does the desman still live near the Seym, and what do we know about it? We discuss this as part of the #StopEcocideUkraine project.

The Russian Desman — The Oldest Representative of Modern European Fauna

The desman is a small mammal that spends much time in the water. Its lifestyle is similar to that of a muskrat, but by origin, the animals are not closely related. The desman is related to the mole. In the Talpidae family, which includes moles, there is a genus called Desmana. A single species of this genus still survives, the Russian desman, scientific name Desmana moschata. Once, there were many species of desmans, but we know this only from fossil remains.

The oldest remains of these animals, found in Europe, date back to the Miocene. This was an epoch in Earth’s history that began about 23 million years ago and ended about 5 million years ago. The animal world was quite different then. The desman lived alongside the ancestors of horses, rhinos, and immense mastodons. Humans as a species did not yet exist!

Therefore, the desman is a relict animal that has survived into modern fauna from pre-human epochs and is not well adapted to current conditions. It evolved into its present form 20 million years ago and has not changed since. Why change anything? 

It’s just perfect! Its four-sided snout is equipped with skin valves to prevent water from entering when it dives. It can comfortably stay underwater for four minutes. The snout is also convenient for digging in the mud at the bottom in search of food.

The desman’s eyesight is weak but quite sufficient for its lifestyle. It swims in dark thickets and is active at night. 

Its body is small, about 20 centimeters (~8 inches) long, with a similarly long tail covered in scales. At the base, it is round, but towards the end, it becomes flat like a boat keel, which is useful for swimming. The desman has developed webbing between its toes for better swimming. There are also fringes of fur along the edges of its paws that increase the surface area for paddling.

The desman’s toes on its hind legs are arranged quite differently from other mammals, being column-like — one above the other. This is not very convenient for crawling but excellent for paddling. Its fur is thick and silky, allowing it to stay relatively dry and creating an air cushion around it. Is this not perfect for aquatic life?

The desman favors An oxbow lake forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off.oxbow lakes, floodplain lakes, and even settles in river channels. The entrance to its burrow is underwater, but the burrow itself extends into the bank, rising above the water level. A desman family can dig tunnels up to 20 meters long, sometimes on multiple levels, in case the lower floors flood. The burrow is lined with plant matter.

The desman is not picky in terms of food: its diet includes both plants and animals. This includes mollusks, cattails, water lilies, insect larvae, leeches, and in winter, fish. During Soviet times, when desmans were kept in artificial conditions, they even agreed to eat cabbage and potatoes.

A Fragrant Animal

The largest populations of desman live on russian territory in the basins of the Volga, Don, and Ural rivers.

The English name — Russian desman — reflects this fact.  

At the same time, the name of this mammal, used in the Ukrainian scientific community, is not “Russian” but “that of Rus.” This name refers to the medieval Eastern Slavic state Kyivan Rus, which existed on the territory of modern Ukraine, Belarus, and partly russia. Throughout the centuries, variations of its name have been used by those claiming the inheritance of Kyivan Rus. Finally, in the 18th century, russia formally adopted this name. Both adjectives—which refer to the old Slavic state and to the modern country—are often mixed up in russian and even English.

Ironically, while called “Russian” in English, it is precisely the russians who are currently pushing desmans closer to extinction. 

In Latin, however, scent played a significant role. The genus name Desmana was adopted, meaning “musk.” The species name moschata also means “with a musky smell.”

Yes, the desman truly has a scent. Its glands secrete musk, which serves as a chemical signal to attract the opposite sex and lubricate its fur. This substance, whether of animal origin or synthetic, is used in perfumery, as musk is believed to induce arousal.

However, the desman itself is quite reserved in this regard — during the breeding season, it is monogamous! It creates a family and dwells only with its partner.

The Last Sighting of the Desman

In 2009 researchers estimated that about 300–500 desmans remained near the Seym and its tributaries. However, these figures are just an estimate: no thorough studies of the Seym’s desman population have been conducted.

Apart from Ukraine, there are small populations of Russian desmans in russia and western Kazakhstan. Although the desman once lived in the rivers of Western Europe, it is no longer found there. What led to its extinction there?

Hunting, among other factors, played a role. Recorded figures on desman hunting in russia show that 100,000 skins were sold annually before World War I.

The desman began to die out. During Soviet times, efforts were made to restore the population: The animal was caught and kept in artificial conditions, and various rafts made of brushwood and floating nest boxes from logs were even made for them. Then, they were released into rivers. From 1929 to 1940, desmans were also released in Ukraine, but they did not take root anywhere.

In Ukraine, the desman lived in the Dnipro River but went extinct in the 1930s.

It also lived in the Siverskyi Donets and its tributaries. The rare animal had a protected status as far back as 1928: in the Luhansk region, a “
“desman farm” called Kreminne was established in the floodplain lakes of the Krasna River. In modern terms, this was a nature reserve. Initially, the population increased, then fell back to its original numbers. The reserve was abolished in 1954 and turned into hunting grounds. Since then, desmans have occasionally been spotted in the Donets but gradually disappeared. It is believed that by the 1970s, the species was completely extinct in this river.

However, around the time when the desman nearly disappeared in the Donets, it appeared in the Seym. This was an artificially introduced population that, surprisingly, settled in well. The desman was released in the Kursk region in 1961 and found the Seym to its liking. The river originates in russia, flows through Ukraine, and empties into the Desna. The desman gradually spread downstream, inhabiting the Ukrainian part of the Seym in the Sumy region. The areas where the desman can live are now part of the Serednioseymskiy Reserve and Seymskiy Regional Landscape Park.

“The information we have about the Seym comes from recorded catches: people simply report that this animal was seen. There are photographs of desmans in the Seym tributary, the Vyr River — there was definitely a small population there,” says researcher Oleksandr Yemets.

Oleksandr himself encountered a desman in the Kleven River. This happened near the village of Lytvynovychi in the Konotop district on August 6, 2018. The zoologists were not expecting a desman at the time; they were out for a bird survey.

It seems this was the last recorded instance of a desman sighting in Ukraine.

Why There Are So Few Desmans

The animal is extremely particular about its living conditions. As soon as something doesn’t suit it, it leaves. If only it had somewhere to go…

Both natural and human factors threaten the desman. It is uncertain whether the animal will survive the new challenge — hostilities. So, what is endangering the desman?

• Climate Change

The desman is poorly adapted to temperature changes and may not survive droughts. 

Additionally, the animal spreads during river floods, which have been absent in recent years. “Its burrows get flooded, so it abandons them and follows the stream in search of new territories,” explains Oleksandr Yemets. “At such times, you might see a desman on some log or just floating in the water. The animal needs somewhere to sleep and eat, but its burrow is flooded! So, it leaves home. This is how it disperses. Have you seen the Seym flood? It’s an incredible sight: a sea of water under the spring sun, beautiful! Unfortunately, the last flood was about 20 years ago.”

• Agriculture

The desman is disturbed by the presence of people and livestock and gets frightened by sounds.

• Fishing

On the Siverskyi Donets, fishing contributed to the disappearance of the Russian desman. The animals got caught in nets, and people frequently visited the river with cars or used electric fishing rods, scaring or killing the animals.

• Wastewater

“During my years working in the Seymskiy Park, there have been two serious environmental disasters. Both were linked to russia,” laments Oleksandr Yemets.

On June 27, 2011, an accident occurred at the sewage treatment facilities in the russian city of Kursk. Wastewater is typically purified using activated sludge: a whole ecosystem of microorganisms that feed on substances in the wastewater, “cleaning” the water. At the Kursk treatment plant, these microorganisms died and failed to do their job. The untreated waste flowed into the Seym, reaching Ukraine.

“When this mass of poisoned water approached the dam near Tyotkino is a town in russia near the Ukrainian border.Tyotkino, instead of dealing with it on their territory, they opened the sluice gate and released the water into Ukraine. As a result, a colossal number of fish died here. The Ukrainian lamprey, a species of fish-like organisms that are protected by everything imaginable, was affected!” he exclaims.

The second major pollution incident occurred this year at the end of May. Once again, dirty water flowed from the north, killing fish.

Moreover, in 2012, at least four enterprises in russia were fined for discharging untreated wastewater into the Seym, and in 2023, the water utility company of Kursk, Kurskvodokanal, was fined for insufficiently treating the water that entered the river.

“Dirty water is a catastrophic situation!” Yemets laments. The water’s bacterial balance changes and the amount of dissolved oxygen drops sharply. This kills mollusks, reducing the desman’s food supply.

• War

Oleksandr Yemets predicts that the war will have the most significant impact on the desman population in the Vyr River.

The animals live in the river near the villages of Stari Vyrky, Novi Vyrky, Boyary-Lezhache, and Ryzhivka. “Right now, it’s hell there. All you can name is being fired there and exploding there. Nothing remains of poor Ryzhivka! And the desman was spotted near Ryzhivka, and it must still be living somewhere around there,” says Yemets.

It doesn’t necessarily take a direct hit to harm the desman population. Any animal flees areas where it is disturbed by noise and vibration. When a shockwave from an explosion hits water, aquatic organisms suffer from hydrodynamic shock. Simply put, they get shell-shocked. “If this happens regularly, it’s catastrophic for the animal. And this has been going on regularly for two years. The desman is a very cautious animal! It won’t stay where cows graze near the water. Just mere cows! And here, it’s shells!” 

Explosions not only make noise but also pollute the water, soil, and air, contaminating them with heavy metals.

Could the animal simply relocate downstream? It needs suitable living conditions, which are increasingly scarce. And it’s not just the war playing a role: sometimes farmers against the law plow fields right up to the Seym and other water bodies, which doesn’t suit the desman. Yemets concludes, “Where it used to live is now under bombardment. So it will definitely leave, but whether it will find a new place is a big question. The climate has changed significantly, the oxbow lakes have dried up. So the desman will look for A backwater is a place flooded by river or lake water during a flood, or a calm area of a river or lake. backwaters directly in the Seym. However, there aren’t many places that meet its living requirements.” 

How the Desman is Studied and Counted

Detecting the desman in the summer is difficult because the animal is nocturnal and lives among water plants and duckweed. Therefore, they are counted in the winter.

The method is as follows: when the water first freezes and the ice is clear, scientists walk on it and look down under the ice. They search for evidence of desmans. “Where there are burrows, there will be a trodden path — you can see that it uses this burrow,” explains Oleksandr. “Usually, shells gather near such burrows: the desman eats, throws out the shells while sitting in the burrow.”

The last serious studies were conducted in the Siverskyi Donets basin in 2001, but no desmans were found.

“We wanted to count the animals in the landscape park. However, organizing such an expedition is not easy. It’s very expensive and requires equipment. And now there’s a war,” laments Oleksandr.

In recent years, there have been at least a few recorded instances of desman sightings in the Seym. Now no one, except the military, can enter her habitat as the area is under frequent shelling.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine prohibits researchers from traveling by boat or kayak on water bodies; the shores may be mined.

Only nature conservation inspectors have the right to check the condition of the landscape park. They report that there are almost no nets now, which is good. However, no one knows if the desman still lives in the Seym. 

Can the Desman Be Saved?

Until the hostilities in the Sumy region end, it is too early to talk about preserving the desman. Oleksandr Yemets says, “This is the highlight, the trump card of our landscape park. This is an animal from past epochs! If the russians leave our land, we will conduct research. Then, it will be clear what can be done to preserve the population. And the situation will improve. We must preserve this unique animal, which remains here only in the Sumy region.”

This publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.

When most people think about the work of archaeologists, they imagine the search for ancient settlements or burial mounds, the discovery of golden Scythian ornaments, Trypillian ceramics, or Sarmatian weapons. Rarely do they consider the study of animal skeletons. Yet, this is precisely the focus of zooarchaeology, a very young but rapidly progressing field of study.

Zooarchaeologists focus on the remains of animals found during excavations. Interestingly, they are not primarily interested in dinosaurs or the search for semi-mythical creatures but rather in species that lived in historical periods and coexisted with humans.

Imagine removing even a single species from the history of our planet, say, the horse, and consider how differently history might have unfolded. In ancient times, the absence of horses would have made interregional contact more difficult and slowed the exchange of information, thereby hindering the development of civilization. If a ruler had left the capital for more than three months, the likelihood of a coup would have been very high. Consequently, states would have been smaller, and small empires tend to be more brutal. Without a mobile army to suppress rebellions at the borders, rulers would resort to terror to ensure that uprisings did not occur again soon. These are just a few examples. It is nearly impossible to imagine life in a world without horses.

This is exactly the type of complex question that zooarchaeology addresses. This field of study explores how the animal world and humanity have coexisted and influenced each other over millennia.

The first professionals in this field explored animals in agriculture, examining which species humans domesticated in different eras. Today, zooarchaeology also helps to study the impact of humans on ecosystems, the connection between animals and climate, and, most importantly, what we can do to protect the environment from irreversible changes.

Humans have always been clever and resourceful predators, inevitably impacting their environment. Homo erectus and the earliest representatives of Homo sapiens were on par with other predators: even if they harmed the environment, it was no more than, say, a tiger. Much also depended on the conditions in which they had to survive. The more favorable the environment, the more impact the predator could have. Imagine a cat landing on an island and encountering weaker competitors and easy prey — the local fauna would not fare well. Ancient humans were often like such cats, frequently dominating certain areas.

However, what began to happen from the late Paleolithic period is of particular interest to zooarchaeologists. It was then that humans began using more sophisticated weapons, mastered the most effective hunting methods, and started to change the landscapes of entire continents.

It is important to note that many people still hold the stereotype of the bon sauvage or noble savage: the belief that ancient people lived in harmony and unity with nature. This view is often expressed about Australian Aborigines or indigenous peoples of the Americas. Unfortunately, I must disappoint you. Firstly, they were not as wild and primitive as often portrayed: Australians mastered seafaring even earlier than Europeans and were generally intelligent and inventive. Secondly, due to this inventiveness, they significantly (and sometimes drastically) altered the ecosystems in which they lived. Australian Aborigines had no competitors in their area in terms of intellect and hunting skills, leading them to exterminate many animals. One of their hunting methods was to set vegetation on fire. Have you guessed why the contemporary Australian bush — the shrubby environment of the continent — is so prone to fires? About 60,000 years ago, the ancestors of Australian Aborigines practiced widespread burning of local forests. This shaped ecosystems that adapted to such fires.

The same occurred in North America: the Clovis culture, during its 300-year existence 12,000 years ago, completely destroyed many species, fundamentally altering human history. However, it is not fair to blame ancient peoples for being insufficiently environmentally aware. Such a stage in human development was predictable and inevitable. Remember, humans are skillful predators, and for a predator, dominating competitors and taking everything from the environment is natural.

However, there is a unique trait that sets us apart from other hunters. Unlike, say, a lion, humans are capable of reflecting on their actions and questioning whether they are doing the right thing. Imagine if, at some point, lions had eaten all humans and wiped our population off the planet. It’s unlikely they would lament, “What a pity, humans were so nice!” In contrast, humans, especially modern ones, have come to understand that despite their negative impact on the environment, they need to reduce this impact and protect vulnerable species.

This is where zooarchaeology comes into play with its studies of the past of these species. First and foremost, it helps determine how populations of various animals fluctuated, where they were widespread, and how humanity influenced all of this. For example, right now, with Dr. Oleksandr Kovalchuk and Tyt Volynskyi, we are researching the fauna of modern Ukraine — the species that our ancestors hunted the most. This is part of the project “Valuable Animal Species of Ukraine’s Fauna According to Archaeological Materials: Taxonomic Composition, Population Dynamics, and Spatial Distribution.” Of course, the phrase “valuable species” in the title is somewhat outdated and underscores a consumerist attitude towards nature. However, it is appropriate when talking about the past. After all, for ancient people, a bison, for example, was more valuable and necessary for survival than a water vole. Valuable species had a hard time because humans often reduced or even wiped out their populations.

Research shows that the most valuable species for people in the lands of Ukraine were hoofed animals and predators, diurnal and nocturnal birds, and sturgeon fish. Specifically, until the Bronze Age, there was active hunting of the eagle owl in Ukraine, which most likely had significant ritual importance. During the Iron Age, they had an easier time, but diurnal predators, especially eagles, buzzards, and kites, began to be persecuted. During the times of Kyivan Rus, there was a lot of hunting for the Eurasian goshawk. Also, the white-tailed eagle was always considered particularly valuable for some reason, yet it managed to adapt and remained quite numerous until the 20th century when these birds began to be systematically hunted in Soviet times.

Observing an ecosystem without comparing it to the past does not provide us with enough information about its normal state. For example, there is currently a debate about the great cormorant — a bird that lives in colonies and settles near the sea and also along the Dnipro and Buh rivers, consuming quite a lot of fish. Fishermen working on these rivers are very unhappy about this and insist that cormorants should be culled. Their argument is that the mere presence of this bird on the rivers is an anomaly; they claim that the birds have moved far from the sea due to man-made reservoirs. However, zooarchaeologists know that the great cormorant has always moved up the Dnipro and Buh during warming periods, even when there were no reservoirs. Therefore, this is not an anomaly that should be eradicated and forgotten but a reality of the local environment, no matter how unprofitable and unpleasant it may be for some.

There are also contrasting stories where we perceive certain species as native, although they do not belong to our ecosystem at all. For instance, the pheasant may seem quite “ours” to many. There is a belief that the ancestors of pheasants lived on Ukrainian territory 2.5 million years ago, and therefore this species is native to our fauna and should be protected. However, after collecting research materials, I realized that the pheasant is a species introduced by humans, probably in the 18th century. Its homeland is the Caucasus, but it could have been brought to Ukraine as semi-domesticated birds from the Mediterranean or Central Europe. Although there is data suggesting that pheasants were found in antiquity, among these remains, one bone does not lend itself to analysis, one turned out to be a duck bone, another a falcon bone, and yet another belonged to a small chicken. Thus, all those identified as “pheasants” were various other birds. If so, it turns out that the pheasant is just as non-native to our territory as, for example, the chestnut. One way or another, they displace “our” (scientifically, autochthonous) species. Therefore, before worrying about preserving pheasant populations, it is worth investigating the degree of their impact on the ecosystem.

There are species that have relatively recently arrived in our territories and pose a threat to local wildlife. We call them invasive species. Some of these species enter new environments on their own, while others are introduced by humans, often due to gross negligence. For instance, jellyfish appeared in the Dnipro likely because aquarium enthusiasts released them into the river. Some insects or snails travel long distances with grain, reproduce in new areas, and then can harm crops. The rose-ringed parakeet is also gradually spreading — this clever and strong bird competes successfully with many other species. Interestingly, it provides an example of the delayed effect of introduced species: nowadays, this parrot seems quite common in the Mediterranean region, but its presence in Chernivtsi raises concerns. In fact, the rose-ringed parakeet is not native to Europe at all — it was brought from India by the troops of Alexander the Great 2,300 years ago. Currently, we do not know what to do with such species — we are merely studying and determining which animals are “ours” and truly need protection and which are alien to the ecosystem.

So, what can science do to preserve “our” species?

First, it can help restore their populations. By studying remains, we know where these species lived and whether their distribution was natural. If, for instance, we want to restore the saiga or the steppe eagle, archaeological finds will tell us where they used to live and where they should be reintroduced. It is also important to know the natural population size, as not all species need to be numerous — some are rare by nature, such as the demoiselle crane. Although it is listed in the Red Data Book, its finds have always been few, especially compared to a similar species, the common crane.

Second, we can predict certain changes in populations to find ways to protect them. Here, for example, we can combine climatology with zooarchaeology. Climatology studies climate as a system that includes plants and animals, and changes in this system involve not only temperature fluctuations but also the appearance or disappearance of species. For example, the great bustard is listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine — its numbers are relatively high during cold periods and decrease during warm periods. However, as the planet becomes increasingly hot, this temperature change adds extra pressure on the population of these birds. Therefore, we should be more attentive to the great bustard — it is not adapted to new, hotter climate conditions.

I hope that now when you hear the word “archaeology,” you will associate it a bit more with animals and their conservation. Studying the past of animals and understanding humanity’s role in the extinction of some species can be the first step toward restoring vulnerable populations. And zooarchaeologists are taking these steps, paving the way for animal protectors.

Since 2014, Ukrainian nature reserves have been turned into battlegrounds or ended up under military occupation. For example, russia seized the Kazantyp and Yalta reserves after occupying Crimea. The Holy Mountains National Nature Park, the Donetsk Ridge and Zuyivskyi landscape parks, and parts of the Luhansk Provallia Steppe Nature Reserve were damaged or completely destroyed during the fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

With the start of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, reserves in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions also came under occupation. The occupation authorities there are employing the practices already mastered in Crimea.

Within the framework of the #StopEcocideUkraine project, we discuss the ecocidal actions committed by russians on Ukraine’s occupied nature reserve lands.

THE GOAL IS TO SEIZE NATURAL WEALTH AND USE IT FOR FURTHER MILITARY AGGRESSION

russians exploit Ukraine’s protected areas wherever they can establish even a temporary foothold. They try to make this temporary presence permanent by legalizing their actions, at least within the framework of russian legislation.

Re-registration

After the occupation of Crimea, the russian state register saw an increase in legal entities, including national parks and reserves located on the Crimean peninsula. russians began re-registering them as property of their state. Thus, December 2014 saw the appearance of the Kazantyp Nature Reserve, the Tarkhankut National Nature Park, the Opuk Nature Reserve, and other “state budget institutions”.

However, from 2017 to 2023, the russian legal entities of the Kazantyp, Karadag, Opuk, Tarkhankut, and Karalar reserves were liquidated. No, the russians did not regret their conquest or acknowledge their crimes — they simply decided to centralize the management of protected areas through a single directorate, Zapovednyi Krym (Protected Crimea). This entity was created back in 2020, and its activities include fishing and logging. Thus, what is essentially a scheme with the creation of a parent organization legalized these operations on Ukrainian protected territories.

Another criminal activity concerning animals and a way of making money is carried out by the Karadag Nature Reserve in temporarily occupied Crimea. There, russians created a “science demonstration program” involving dolphins. Every day except Monday, visitors are treated to a “bright and colorful acquaintance with Black Sea bottlenose dolphins” — a rare species listed in Ukraine’s Red Book. Judging by the poster, an institution dedicated to studying and preserving nature instead entertains the public with shows similar to those at Nemo dolphinariums.

During the full-scale war, russians apply their experience of appropriation and destruction to mainland reserves under occupation. For instance, last year, the Ukrainian Dzharylhach National Nature Park (Dzharylhachsky in the russified version) was included in the russian unified state register of legal entities. According to this register, russians have allowed fishing and hunting, logging, and the extraction of clay, salt, oil, and natural gas on the territory of the national park. They also want to turn the protected area into a recreational zone by building hotels and restaurants.

In March 2023, russia also included the state-owned autonomous institution Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve in its state register. The russians omitted an important part of the reserve’s name — the name of Friedrich von Falz-Fein, who founded it. The occupation administration of the Kherson Region appointed a former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine, Dmytro Meshcheriakov, as the reserve’s director. The National Police has already made him a collaborationism suspect for this.

The same situation occurred in the Azov-Syvash National Nature Park in the Kherson Region. It was re-registered under russian law in February 2023, with Ukrainian citizen Yevheniy Popovchuk appointed as director. Evidently, he harbors political ambitions under the russian occupation regime, as he ran as a candidate from the United russia party in the illegal elections held in Kherson in 2023, becoming a deputy of the so-called Henichesk Municipal District of the Kherson Region.

Military Exploitation

However, re-registration and russian conservation status do not protect the occupied reserves: russians use these lands for military purposes, endangering and deliberately destroying them. 

russians have set up a military training ground in the Pryazovskyi National Nature Park in the Zaporizhzhia Region. There, they conduct mortar fire drills, damaging the reserve landscapes with shelling. Last year, they also actively excavated the Molochna River to create a water barrier in case of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

According to the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, at the beginning of the full-scale war, russians also entrenched themselves in the south of the Donetsk Region, in the Meotyda National Nature Park. This destroyed the nesting sites of wetland birds: the Pallas’s gull, oystercatcher, Dalmatian pelican, and Sandwich tern. Ornithologist Vadym Zhulenko explained that these birds nest only in that location.

The consequences of the occupation of protected areas can already be assessed by the condition of those that have been liberated. For example, after the de-occupation of the Kamianska Sich National Nature Park in the Kherson Region, experts discovered the barbaric method russians used to camouflage their military positions. The invaders tore up rare feather grass species and other plants, which the park was created to protect.

Moreover, let us also take a closer look at the Holy Mountains National Nature Park in the Donetsk Region, which was under occupation from February to autumn 2022. According to its director, Serhiy Pryimachuk, during these months, russians destroyed about 5,000 hectares of forest and removed equipment belonging to the park. The protected area was heavily mined, and mine explosions continue to cause fires.

A similar story unfolded in Dvorichansky National Nature Park, occupied in spring 2022. When the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated the Kharkiv Region in the autumn, russians had mined the park area, including with anti-personnel mines known as “petals” [PFM-1 anti-personnel land mine]. Demining is not possible at the moment — it can only be done after the fighting is over. The park is too close to the russian border.

METHODS — BURNING PLANTS, STEALING AND SHOOTING ANIMALS

Regional military administrations monitor the condition of occupied biosphere reserves and national nature parks using satellite imagery and maintaining contact with employees who were forced to remain under occupation. They report that these territories suffer most from fires: forests and steppe grasses burn. Consequently, animals suffer from starvation as well as die from mines and shelling. They also get killed by russian poachers and stolen from Ukrainian reserves to russian zoos.

Nature in Flames

According to the Kherson Regional Military Administration, over 5.5 thousand hectares of the Askania-Nova reserve have burned since February 24, 2022—almost one-fifth of its territory. Agricultural landscapes were most affected: arable land, fallow fields, and shelterbelts. The administration explains this by neglect: weeds have grown, which quickly dry out and are susceptible to catching fire.

However, protected zones also suffered from fires, including the “model” fescue-feather-grass steppe of the Black Sea region, the main ecological asset of Askania-Nova. The most significant damage was caused by large fires on August 22 and September 1, 2023. Plants listed in the The Green Data Book of Ukraine is a government document that promotes the protection of entire plant groups.Green Data Book of Ukraine (2009), primarily Ukrainian feather grass [Stipa ucrainica] and downy feather grass [Stipa capillata], were burned. Additionally, during the firefighting on September 1, 2023, russians plowed the virgin steppe in the reserve, damaging the soil.

Partially affected by the fires was the bottom of the Great Chapelsky Hollow [also referred to as the Great Chapelsky Lowland], a wetland of international importance protected by the Ramsar Convention. The entire reserve area is part of Ukraine's Emerald Network is a network of areas of special conservation interest that is part of the Emerald Network of Europe.Ukraine’s Emerald Network.

In 2023, the Dzharylhach National Nature Park experienced 36 fires which burned over 1.5 thousand hectares of protected land. Rare Red Data Book orchids, sawgrass, and other valuable plants used to grow there. Deer, fallow deer, foxes, and gray hares had to flee the fires. The damage to the park is estimated at over 102 billion hryvnias [~2.5 billion US dollars].

From February 2022 to April 2023, over 7 thousand hectares of protected lands in the Lower Dnipro National Nature Park burned. In June, when russia blew up the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station, the park was completely flooded. The damage to the plants cannot be determined since most of the park’s territory remains under military occupation.

In the Mykolaiv Region, the Kinburn Spit, located in the Ivory Coast of Sviatoslav National Nature Park, regularly suffers from fires due to russian military actions. Over the two years of full-scale war, park employees recorded more than 200 fires on the occupied territory. The fire often reignites in the same area, affecting over 6 thousand hectares of the reserve.

The Luhansk Regional Military Administration reported that eight forest fire sites caused by active hostilities in the region have been identified since 2022. These fires have damaged parts of the Kreminna Forests National Nature Park and the Triokhizbenskyi Steppe Reserve branch of the Luhansk Nature Reserve.

After de-occupation, the Holy Mountains National Nature Park in the Donetsk Region still suffers from russian shelling. Constant fires from attacks prevent the forest from recovering. The fires also cause significant damage: on May 7, 2024, over 470 hectares of forest burned, with the State Environmental Inspection estimating the damage at over 2.6 billion hryvnias. This assessment had to be conducted remotely, relying on firefighter reports and geospatial data, as the park’s territory is mined.

Explosives pollute the soil, hindering plant growth and generally negatively impacting flora restoration. “I know from 2014 — when Grads [MLRS] shelled a plot of land in the forestry — that for 8 years, not even grass grew there,” says Serhiy Pryimachuk, director of the Holy Mountains Park, about the war’s consequences for nature.

Animal Deaths and Injuries

On Ukrainian conservation lands under occupation, animals die due to inadequate care and suffer injuries and stress due to hostilities. 

Viktor Shapoval, director of Askania-Nova, reports that many animals in the reserve die from a lack of proper care. For instance, in November 2023, three Cape buffaloes, warmth-loving African animals, died on the territory of the Great Chapelsky Hollow because the occupation administration did not move them to winter quarters in time. Another female buffalo died on the way there.

The Kherson Regional Military Administration estimates the losses to the Askania-Nova reserve from animal deaths and removals at 970 thousand hryvnias [~24,000 US dollars]. This is not the final amount, as the damage continues to be calculated, however, it won’t bring the animals back.

In the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, in the Pryazovskyi National Nature Park, russian invaders and local collaborationists engage in fish poaching. According to the park’s director, Dmytro Volovyk, they have placed at least 8 kilometers of fishing nets in the Molochnyi Estuary Hydrological Reserve, collecting up to 5 tons of fish daily.

He also confirms that in the Azov-Syvash National Nature Park, the invaders kill animals “for meat”, “Animals from Biryuchyi [Island] are shot and transported in trucks. I know of an incident where the invaders shot a truckful of hooved animals, with blood dripping from the car trunk.”

There are also reports from occupied parts of the Kherson Region that russian soldiers hunt there. The animal killers do not hide their actions and post photos of their prey on social media. Zoologist Vitaliy Smahol identified a male red deer in these photos. Before the war, herds of these deer used to live in the Askania-Nova reserve and the Azov-Syvash National Nature Park.

Theft of Red Data Book Animals

russians illegally transport animals from Askania-Nova, disguising their actions with a “cooperation agreement,” but these documents are signed not by the legitimate Ukrainian director but by the russian appointee.

In 2023, the National Resistance Center reported that russians were taking animals to the Safari-Park in Krasnodar. The park has a petting zoo, and the animals are kept in enclosures, which are very different conditions from Askania-Nova, where the animals roamed freely.

In December of the same year, the russians illegally exchanged several specimens of Chapman’s zebra, American bison, Przewalski’s horse, and Père David’s deer from Askania-Nova for eland antelopes, domestic yaks, and Bactrian camels from the Rostov Nature Reserve. The species taken from Ukrainian territories are listed in the Red Book and included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List with statuses such as Extinct in the Wild, Critically Endangered, and Near Threatened.

russian propaganda media also report “exchanges” between Askania-Nova and the Tayhan Park in Crimea. In the spring, a 15-year-old pregnant Chapman’s zebra and two foals of this species were taken from Ukraine to Crimea. In return, pelicans, dwarf pigs, alpacas, and a Eurasian bustard were taken from the park in the occupied Crimea. Tayhan has a bad reputation even in russia: its director Oleg Zubkov is often accused of animal abuse. He himself states that he has gone through 582 court sessions involving 70 administrative and six criminal cases. Animal rights activists say he is protected by the occupation authorities of the peninsula. They also sent a petition to vladimir putin, citing the Tayhan Park as “a parody of a zoo, an amateur zoo garden without any animal professionals, with daily dangerous situations caused by the reckless actions of the park owner Zubkov.”

Moreover, the same Oleg Zubkov owns another animal abuse facility—the Skazka Zoo. russian Red Data Book animals — Bengal tiger cubs — have already died there. Now, the zoo has signed a criminal agreement with the occupation management of Askania-Nova to obtain Ukrainian Red Data Book animals.

By managing temporarily occupied Ukrainian reserves, russia exploits loopholes in international law. For instance, the Rome Statute still lacks a definition of ecocide as a crime, and the Geneva Convention does not specifically protect reserves and sanctuaries. While there is a 2016 UN General Assembly resolution on the environment that calls on member states to protect the environment during armed conflicts, UN resolutions are not binding, and thus russia has not included environmental protection requirements in its military documents.

Therefore, Ukraine must vigorously advocate for changes in international law that would hold russia accountable for the damage to Ukrainian protected territories and the environment in general.

Cover photo: Kreminna Forests, 2024. Source: Open Forest NGO

Bottom banner photo by Roksolana Baran. Source: Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine

This publication was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.

Have you ever found yourself still awake at 4 a.m. after binge-watching a series? We know what it’s like to keep hitting “Continue” until you find out the ending. But besides the dark circles under your eyes, TV shows can also serve a positive purpose. For instance, they can teach us something about animal protection. We’ve compiled a selection of examples for you to reflect on and learn more.

A few minutes by car from Kyiv, you arrive in the village of Chubynske. Here, four bears and a wolf live at the Bila Skelia sanctuary, which means White Rock in Ukrainian. I enter the gates, fully confident that the bears will be somewhere far away and that I’ll only see them through a camera lens with a 5x zoom. If only they would poke their noses out!

However, almost immediately, a nearly 300-kilogram bear named Synochok approaches the fence and watches my every step intently.

“Watching a moving object is a natural behavior for a predator. It doesn’t mean he will attack, but he’s curious. When people come with cameras, he openly enjoys himself. You are potential prey,” says the sanctuary’s co-founder and predator behavior and ecology specialist, Maryna Shkvyria.  

Well, it’s good that the bear got curious and approached me. After all, nothing but curiosity would make him leave his important business deep in the enclosure. He has a choice of where to be, when, and what to do. The task of the rehabilitation center for animals rescued from cages is precisely this: to create conditions that help them make choices. It turns out this can be quite difficult.

Climbing, Running, Swimming, Chewing

There is no actual rock at Bila Skelia. However, an artificial white rock once stood in the enclosure where bears Liubochka and Mykhasyk used to live. That enclosure was not here but at a shelter in the Zhytomyr region.

That shelter appeared in Berezivka back in 2012 and was initially called Hope. The international foundation Four Paws managed it, which later founded another bear sanctuary, Domazhyr, in the Lviv region. Consequently, Hope came under the care of the Save Wild Foundation and became the Bila Skelia sanctuary. Some of the bears there gradually moved to Domazhyr. Bila Skalia was then developed at a new location in Chubynske, and operations began in 2020.

“It was difficult,” says zoologist Yehor Yakovliev, Maryna’s husband and co-founder of Bila Skelia. “We drew the sketches of the sanctuary with Maryna, and I did the more precise planning and calculations. Then, the plumbing and welding work began, which I and nine other people carried out. We transported the bears in 2020, too. While they wintered in small enclosures, we built the large ones. We worked all year.”

Synochok looks at me from behind the net. Though he is clearly visible, he is separated from me by a 3.5-meter-high fence and two layers of Electric shepherd is an electrified fence that does not allow animals to go beyond a certain area. electric shepherd. Safety is the number one concern in the design of bear enclosures. In addition to visible fences, there are also hidden ones.

Yehor explains, “There is also a net in the ground so the bear cannot dig a way out. A bear is a compulsive animal. For example, if it senses water flowing underground, it will dig very long and persistently, breaking structures. A bear can remove a cubic meter (35 cubic feet) of soil daily. It’s a big challenge for us to fix everything they break.”

Inside each enclosure, there is a small pool and a den. Bears love interacting with objects and feeling different textures, so the enclosure has plenty of logs, branches, and stones of various shapes that the animals can move around in various ways.

Synochok had never seen anything like this before. 

He spent nine years in a circus cage and first set foot on the grass at the sanctuary in the Zhytomyr region. Here in Chubynske, he started making himself at home: he moved stones and logs around to rearrange his den.

Maryna Shkvyria says, “A bear in a rehabilitation center is not a wild animal. It doesn’t know competition with wild relatives, doesn’t hunt, doesn’t live in large territories, and doesn’t fight for a mate. However, a bear still needs to exhibit natural behavior: climbing, running, swimming, chewing, digging the ground. And for this, we create semi-natural conditions.”

Less Is More

What makes an ideal enclosure? The Guidelines for Keeping and Breeding Wild Animals in Captivity and Semi-Free Conditions, for example, require an enclosure for one bear to be at least 200 square meters (2152 square feet). 

The residents of Bila Skelia have plenty of space. Except for Chada’s pool, which looks more like a jacuzzi. Sometimes visitors glance at the small pool sideways: maybe she needs a bigger one? 

“Chada’s pool is small so that she doesn’t drown. If something happens, we can’t pull her out by the scruff, but if we sedate her with a A syringe dart is a tool used by veterinarians to administer injections to animals from a distance. Some syringes are thrown by hand, while others are launched using a pneumatic device. dart syringe, she’ll drown before we can reach her,” explains Yehor.

Standards for keeping bears in developed countries don’t require larger spaces or deeper pools. Like in Ukraine, documents only outline minimum requirements for animal care.

To make a bear’s habitat in captivity comfortable and safe, the specific needs of the furry tenant must be considered. A bear cub to be released into the wild requires one set of conditions, while an old, injured bear needs completely different ones.

In developed countries, professional associations directly influence who keeps wild animals in captivity and how they do it. They issue licenses or fine irresponsible owners. Such associations, Yehor asserts, monitor not only compliance with regulations but also the safety and comfort of the animals. In Ukraine, this process is controlled solely by government agencies. Since not every employee is an expert in wild animal behavior, prohibitions or permissions are mostly based on numbers alone.

Tasks of Reconfiguration

The sanctuary currently has five enclosures, one of which is unfinished. So-called boxes, small enclosures for veterinary procedures, are attached at the edges.

“We don’t have direct contact with the bears. We don’t enter their enclosures — it’s dumb and dangerous. All the enclosures and boxes are connected through gates that we can open remotely. This allows us to move an animal to another enclosure if needed and enter the vacant one to clean, for instance,” explains Maryna.

These bear relocations resemble a game of sliding puzzles. For example, if you need to bring a log into Synochok’s enclosure, Chada, who lives next door, is asked to move into the box connected to her enclosure. Then Synochok is coaxed into Chada’s enclosure. Workers can enter the vacant enclosure once the gate behind the animal is closed. But how do you “ask” a bear to move?

“This is where veterinary training comes in,” explains Maryna. “When an animal is under human care, you inevitably train it to do something, like responding to its name. When we call the animal by name, the bear knows that it will get a treat if it comes to the box or another enclosure. It stays there for a while and then returns to find more water in the pool, a new toy, or something else enjoyable.

There is also target training. This method uses a predator’s natural reaction to an object. The target is an item shown to the bear. We attract the bear’s attention with a ball on a stick. It comes to the box, and we carefully give it food with special tweezers. Next time, we show the target, and the bear understands: ‘Oh, great, I need to move, I’ll get fed, and meanwhile, my slaves will clean up my home.’”

Bears are also trained to respond to gestures. For example, at Bila Skelia, closing and opening a fist is a request to show teeth. In other centers, animals are sometimes asked to stand on their hind legs and show their front ones, or lie down. This helps veterinarians quickly examine the animal from a distance before deciding on sedation.”

Wild Relationships: Abuse and Love

In the enclosure next to Synochok, there’s a commotion. Something heavy splashes into the pool. It turns out that two bears, Liubochka and Mykhasyk, have jumped into the water simultaneously. Liubochka was rescued from circus performers along with Synochok, while Mykhasyk lived in a cage at a restaurant complex.

Mykhasyk was taken from the restaurant in 2017. He was an apathetic, depressive, melancholic young bear, recalls Maryna. A year later, Liubochka arrived, then a two-year-old cub. Initially, she was also very stressed because she had lived without her mother, and bear cubs find orphanhood very difficult. Liubochka would bang against the cage, jump, and fall. The sanctuary decided to introduce Liubochka to Mykhasyk while they were still adolescents. The two quickly bonded.

Maryna says, “In their relationship, Liubochka is the leader. In nature, females are often more active and compulsive, which is true not only in bears. Liubochka always checks things first and then brings Mykhasyk along. If she fixates on something too much, he distracts her. He hugs her, sleeps next to her, calms her down. He might even give her a slap. There is abuse among bears, after all: the stronger one is the leader. However, since Liubochka is emotional and energetic, she sets the tone of the relationship. If Liubochka wakes up in the middle of winter, she’ll wake Mykhasyk because she’s bored. If she wants to swim, she’ll approach and push him into the pool. Sometimes Mykhasyk reaches for an apple in the pool, and Liubochka sneaks up on him and kicks him in the ass! He goes into the pool! While Liubochka runs away.”

In the wild, bears live solitary lives. Despite this, they sometimes display behavior akin to friendship. For example, an old and a young bear might travel together in search of food.

Usually, bears practice “free love,” but some pairs always meet during the breeding season and can maintain relationships for decades. There are also so-called spring and autumn romances: young bears that are not yet ready to mate just walk together.

Wolves, too, occasionally live at Bila Skelia: there was a polar wolf named Dzha and a gray wolf named Dora. Dzha passed away, and Dora moved to Greece, into even better conditions. Currently, a separate enclosure is occupied by Nymphadora, a half-wolf, half-dog. Poachers took her from her den as a cub. When the grown animal began to show aggression, the owner gave her away to activists.

“I see your nose, come out!” calls Maryna, but Nymphadora doesn’t want to come out of her den. Relationships between bears and wolves vary.

Dzha was friends with the bears. “She and Liubochka used to race each other!” recalls Maryna. “With gray Dora, there was no reaction. However, Liubochka wanted to play with Nymphadora, but the wolf got scared. She’s still getting used to her neighbors.”

Stereotypy in Bears

Liubochka approaches the fence, shifting from one paw to another. This is stereotypy — repetitive movements that an animal might perform to cope with stress. Animals that have lived in poor environments — cramped, dull places where they have nothing to think about or engage with — are particularly prone to stereotypy.

As Maryna explains, “Stereotypy is part of natural behavior. However, when an animal lives in unacceptable conditions, this behavior becomes more frequent and intense, sometimes leading to self-harm. Stereotypy won’t disappear entirely — the issue is the frequency and intensity of its manifestations. Maybe Liubochka is showing stereotypy now in response to positive stress: she’s curious about our dog, wondering where the bucket was taken… Most importantly, she’s not in a cage, so she can stop and do something else at any moment.”

It’s crucial to give the animal the opportunity to choose: to hide in the den if they want, to come closer to visitors if they want, to rest, or to swim. “The most important thing that circus animals lose is the ability to choose,” says Maryna. “They live in cages and don’t have the choice of where to sleep or when and what to eat. Now they have a choice. But for many rescued animals, it is very difficult to act independently and in a more natural manner.”

There’s a splashing sound coming from the next enclosure. It’s Chada, a Tien Shan bear — an endangered subspecies — splashing around in the pool. Chada spent 20 years in a cramped cage, 12 of which were in a circus.

Chada arrived at Bila Skelia in 2019. Now 26 years old, she is considered quite a respectable age for a bear. The caretakers say she acts like a fussy grandmother. Unlike the others, Chada couldn’t care less about me and my camera. She’s focused on splashing in her mini pool.

This behavior is a remnant of stereotypy, which transitioned into a softer form. In this case, it plays a positive role: it keeps the old animal active and prevents apathy.

Yehor explains, “She has her own ideas about the water level in the pool: Chada stops splashing at a certain level. Sometimes, she lowers her head and checks: if the water is too low, she snorts and shows her displeasure, as if to say, ‘Servants, replenish my water.’ They all see us as their servants.”

How a Bear Played a Joke on the Electrician

Whenever I try to film Synochok up close, he turns his back on me. It’s his sense of humor, Yehor and Maryna suggest. Do bears really have a sense of humor?

“They find something primitive funny, like ‘someone slipped on a banana peel,’” says Maryna. “They get happy when you drop something or trip. Bears have this experience, too: they fall, and you can see they can extrapolate it. They see you climb a ladder and watch. If you fall, they are delighted. If they have a chance to shake the ladder, they will.”

“They once had such an opportunity,” Yehor shares. “An electrician was working with cables on a ladder near the box where Mykhasyk was. I was standing nearby to ensure everything was safe. Mykhasyk approached, stretched out his paw, covered it with his other paw, and reached for the ladder to yank it. I noticed this. The electrician got down, and we moved the ladder. Mykhasyk was so frustrated! He even turned away. He didn’t like that his joke was ruined.”

This isn’t the only such instance, Maryna laughs: 

“Bears quickly get used to the electric fence. Some never touch it. Once, we closed the bears in the small enclosures and were working in the large ones. Our dog Rafik came with us and was walking near the electric fence. The bears realized there was a chance Rafik might get into trouble. They gathered in a row and held their breath, trying not to scare him. The dog eventually ran into the electric fence, and they jumped joyfully because they figured out how the system works.”

“Once, we had young bear cubs, and until a certain age, we would enter their enclosure,” Yehor continues. “They always tried to knock a person out. One would distract you while the other approached from behind to push you. For them, it’s a game.”

“There aren’t any complex abstractions here, but it’s already humor. It’s also a sign of intelligence,” concludes Maryna.

Bear Appétit

There is probably no other large animal around here with as varied a diet as the bear. Bears are omnivores: they can feast on both plants and meat, depending on what they find. In search of food, they spend most of their active day and can walk up to 40 kilometers (~25 miles) a day. Therefore, even in semi-natural conditions, you won’t see a dedicated feeder for a bear.

“We need to support their natural feeding behavior,” says Maryna. “Several times a day, we scatter different types of food around the enclosure so the bear has to search for it, just like it does in the wild.”

A significant part of the bears’ diet at the sanctuary consists of seafood, as well as vegetables and fruit: carrots, apples, oranges, pumpkins, and watermelons. Additionally, nuts, boiled eggs, occasional meat, cottage cheese, and a bit of dog food (for its mineral additives) are included in their diet.

“If it’s food we give only every few days, we enter the enclosure and hide it. Sometimes, we freeze fruit or fish in water and throw the ice into the pool for them to retrieve. Sometimes we bring fish in a wheelbarrow and place it under stones. It starts to smell, this grossness. They love that… Bears can even hide their food to let it age. They do this in the wild, too. So, if you see a dead deer covered with twigs, you better run,” Maryna explains.

A Bear in a Rehabilitation Center: What’s the Point?

When a bear that needs to be rescued or whose owners are giving it up is identified, sanctuaries and rehabilitation centers look for a place for it. The organization that has the appropriate conditions and expertise takes in the animal. Rescuers communicate with the owners and prepare the veterinary documents for transportation. They arrive with veterinarians who quickly examine the bear and administer sedation. The bear is transported in a special transport cage. Once at the rehabilitation center, the bear initially stays in a small enclosure to gradually get used to the new conditions. Only then does it move to an enclosure proper: first, a small one for adaptation, then a bigger one.

“We sign an agreement with all owners that they will not keep bears anymore. We aim to indirectly preserve the species by reducing the demand for keeping bear cubs. Therefore, we do not take a bear if we know that new ones will take its place,” Maryna explains. Yehor adds, “We want to contribute to the formation of civil society. Such people will not remain silent when they see animals being kept in terrible conditions.”

The co-founders of the sanctuary emphasize that proper rehabilitation involves more than rescuing an animal from negligent owners; it involves more than simply transferring it from one cage to another.

“This is a field based on science and standards that must not be violated,” says Maryna. “The number of animals kept in unacceptable conditions in captivity does not change. However, there are changes in attitudes. It is now frowned upon to go to a restaurant with a bear in a cage, and in large cities, people have started to look down on circuses with animals. The UAnimals campaign to ban traveling circuses with animals has been effective. The existence of bear sanctuaries — such as in Domazhyr and the Synevyr Park — has also made an impact. People visit rehabilitation centers and then question why a bear runs in the grass and winters in a den in some places, while elsewhere, it sits on concrete in a cage. They write about it on social media. People are gradually changing their attitudes toward wild animals in captivity.”