YAKUTSK, October 18. /TASS/. The number of animals in the Pleistocene Park in Yakutia's north, where experts have been recreating the mammoth steppe, may be increased from 150 to 2,000, the park's Director Nikita Zimov told TASS.
The Pleistocene Park scientific experiment began 20 years ago. The idea is to recreate a highly productive ecosystem similar to the one that existed in the Late Pleistocene epoch - the so-called mammoth steppe. Scientists have been introducing large herbivores into the tundra. In 2023, the park and the Andrey Melnichenko Charitable Foundation signed a 10-year agreement to develop the experiment, the results of which will form the basis of a climate project to cut carbon dioxide (methane) emissions throughout the permafrost zone.
"The Pleistocene Park project has got a new development impetus. Together with the Andrey Melnichenko Charitable Foundation, we have established a non-profit organization to develop the project. We plan to increase tenfold the park's area and in the coming years to have the number of large herbivores reach 2,000 animals," the director said.
The Andrey Melnichenko Foundation will support "wider scientific research and active systematic scientific research." For this purpose, the park's fenced territory will be increased within the coming two or three years. "Before that, we will bring animals in small batches - musk oxen, bison, deer - those most adapted to the northern conditions," he added.
The foundation has supported new batches of bison and musk oxen to the park. The bison were bought at a farm in Denmark. Their journey to Yakutia continued for five months. The musk oxen were delivered by the Northern Sea Route from the Ingilor Nature Park on the Yamal Peninsular, via the port of Arkhangelsk. The animals are getting adapted to new conditions and prepare for Yakutia's frosty winter. Presently, the Pleistocene Park has only 150 animals - bison, musk oxen, camels, deer and Yakut horses.
The plans are to expand the park's activities, to create hubs inside and outside the country. "We plan to deliver next spring bison to the village of Aleko-Kuel in the Srednekolymsky District, where a stud farm is located. They want to build up the biodiversity at their pastures, and we want to bring the animals to them," the national park's director said.
Mammoth steppe ecosystems
The Pleistocene Park is located in the Nizhnekolymsky District in Yakutia's Arctic zone. Experts have been recreating there the ecosystem that dominated Eurasia in the Late Pleistocene.
"It was a rich ecosystem with a huge number of animals. [According to our information], in the Far North, dozens of large herbivores used to graz on every square kilometer. And this ecosystem had a significant impact on biochemical cycles, in particular [on the production of] carbon," the scientist said.
Yakutia alone has about 500 billion tons of organic carbon, which is comparable to the planet's entire aboveground biomass. "There is as much carbon in Yakutia in the form of roots and humus as it is in the planet's all trees," he noted.
The ecosystem degradation was caused by the settlement of people who hunted animals. "In the absence of large herbivores, grasses and cereals did not survive the competition against other plants, and pastures gradually degraded. The reverse process is possible. If the number of animals is increased artificially, they through grazing will allow grasses and cereals to regain competitive advantages over other plants," the scientist said.
On winter pastures animals trample snow, which is a good thermal insulator. "Without it, the soil and permafrost will freeze up harder. This is a way to slow down the permafrost melting," he said.
The scientist pointed to a global trend to reduce the carbon footprint. Experts believe that planting trees may help in this matter, but due to the climatic conditions, trees in the north of Russia are rare, low and it takes them long to grow. Additionally, forests are prone to fires. "As for grasses and cereals, they also develop powerful and deep roots to accumulate between 100 and 300 grams of carbon per square meter every year," Zimov said.
Musk oxen or bison?
Bison and yaks have lived in the park for many years. "Over the experiment, bison have proved to be the best, and they are easier to acquire. Besides, it is important for our project that in this country bison are categorized as farm animals, and they are easier to import than the bison listed on the Red Data Book," he continued.
The animals do not compete. "They live peacefully. If, for example, there is not enough grass, bison switch to willows, they eat them with pleasure. Horses face the biggest challenges. This species eats only grass, and depends most of all on good pastures. Other important aspects are correct types, intensity and density of grazing animals," he said.
The park equally needs predators that perform the functions of shepherds and distribute animals across the pasture. "Due to predators, the soil richness increases every year. They may be wolves that exist in the region. We will be introducing them carefully and systematically. Similar experiments have been in North America - their results were good," he added.
At the end of the year, Yakutia's Pleistocene Park Project will be presented at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference.