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Belarus’ Belovezhskaya Pushcha counts its wildlife

An archive photo

BREST, 7 April (BelTA) – The Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park has counted its main animal species, BelTA learned from the website of the national park.

“In order to successfully manage hunting activities, we need to gather information about the size of wildlife populations. It helps set limits on hunting of animals and birds, decide whether to restrict or ban hunting of some species, and evaluate efforts to protect and maintain populations,” representatives of the fauna protection and hunting department of the national park explained.

The hunting service of the national park carried out the game count in September-March. As the winter was snowless, there was no way to carry out the count by analyzing hoof prints. The national park counted animals at feeding sites, during the mating season, and also collected information from local residents. The survey showed that Belovezhskaya Pushcha has 604 bison, 260 elks, over 1,100 roe deer, and 2,600 red deer. Specialists estimated that the population of wild boar is 80, fox – 330, wolf – 70, otter – 100. There are also 360 beavers and 186 raccoon dogs in the national park.

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