The last months of last year and the first days of the new year turned out to be quite rich in photo and video trophies. With the help of automatic cameras, we were able to observe the life of the forest inhabitants of the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve during this, as it seems to many, “passive” time of the year.
Thus, the camera traps that the researchers set up at two points in the Tereshki forestry recorded medium- and large-sized mammals who prefer twilight and nocturnal lifestyle: a fox with a fluffy tail, which, from the moment the camera trap began to work, stared at the lens, and a lynx, which appeared in front of the forest camera twice at night.
In early November, a camera trap installed in the floodplain of a small Yurovka river, which is located in the eastern part of the reserve, registered a very large wolf flock of 12 individuals!
Such a flock is very rare, usually there are groups of wolves of 4-6 individuals. The large size of the flock indicates both an increase in the number of wolves in the protected area, and the good condition of the food supply.
Camera traps located on the wolves’ territory also recorded potential victims of predators − wild ungulates. A handsome deer with luxurious and powerful antlers ate bark from tree branches – it’s not easy to find food in a snowy forest.
The male elk was also looking for food, freeing the tops of young pines from snow.
Both elk and roe deer sniffed the air with caution and did not stop for long at that part of the forest, where predators roamed a day or two ago.
Wolves, on the contrary, have a carefree and playful behavior before the breeding period.
From the end of October, the brown bear regularly, both during the day and in the evening, at night, was caught by the camera trap installed in the floodplain of the river.
Even in early December, despite significant snow cover, brown bear’s activity was recorded. The last time it appeared on December 3, then seemed to lay down in a den and plunged into a winter dream.
You can watch these and other videos from the life of wild animals in their natural habitat on the reserve's official YouTube channel. And there’s also a long article on the results of using camera traps in the Berezinsky Reserve last year in the December issue of the "Rodnaya Priroda" journal No. 12/2022.
