MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. The severe and vicious Arctic climate, living far from the civilization, wild animals - this is what face people working in the Wrangel Island Nature Reserve in Chukotka’s north, between the Western and Eastern hemispheres. A biologist from the Far East, Leonid Zaika, used to work in preservation of the Amur tiger. On the Wrangel Island he studies the Arctic fauna.
Childhood dream
The Arctic was his childhood dream. Back then, he dug out "dens" in the snow and organized "headquarters" there. "And now, I get into dens, which Arctic bears make," he laughed.
"My biggest impressions were from meeting animals. I can remember the first time I met a roe - the heart beat like a drum," the biologist said. "Back then, I realized I want see with my own eyes all the wild animals."
After graduating from an agriculture academy and serving in the Army, for six months he was a volunteer at an organization, protecting the Amur tiger. Later on, he joined the staff.
He used to catch and rehabilitate rare predators, provided hunting inspectors with equipment, and helped student groups that laid ecological paths in the Primorsky Region.
He sent out a CV to a few most interesting nature reserves in Russia, and received an invitation from Chukotka: he was offered a two-year contract to develop ecology tourism.
For almost nine months, Leonid has been living on the Arctic island. "I am incredibly happy to work here, among wonderful people and amazing animals," he told TASS. "Right, I am away from the civilization for quite a term, but here we have comfortable conditions for life and work. I cannot remember when it was last time that I read news or watched a video on YouTube, and this is great! No information fuss."
Life on the island
The nature reserve on the Wrangel Island is the first of the kind in Russia. It was organized to preserve the Arctic. The most part is taken by mountains. There is no permanent population, only the reserve’s staff, scientists, military and meteorologists. They come to the island by helicopters. Food stock is delivered by sea only once a year.
"At the central base, every staff member has a room with electricity and heating," Leonid said. "We have communication, the Internet is only by satellite - the signal is weak and unstable."
Inspectors and other staff care for themselves - they cook, bring water. By the way, getting water is quite an adventure: in winter, melt the snow, and in summer either take rain water or go to the river. Never ever drink water from the river.
"Water from most rivers here is not good for drinking - it contains many salts and much iron. Every staff member has a device to measure salts. After such tests thorough boiling is a must," he said.
The island is covered with a net of cordons - special shelters, where inspectors work. Getting from one to another may take a few days. In winter - snow bikes, in summer - four-wheel bikes. In the spring mud season, inspectors may remain cut off the central base for two months. Yet, every day, in the morning and in the evening, the cordons join communication sessions to check if everything is fine.
The inspectors register animals and birds, collect data for further studies, escort tourists and scientists.
"In summer, I was lucky to participate in counting sea gregarious birds. The Arctic does not have big coastal areas, and there are places called "rookeries" - for a few hundred years, 200-300 thousand or even almost half a million birds come here every year. And inspectors count them. Imagine the row there, what a beauty it is!" Leonid exclaimed.
I carry pistol at all times
From a helicopter window, the Wrangel Island struck the biologist by its size: it seemed a tiny piece of land. On the first night, the newcomers were informed about a bear cub, which wandered the island on its own, without the mom.
"It happens quite often: cubs may lag behind or get frightened and run away. They wander and cry for mom. Most often they find each other, but such situations require our control - we must try not to allow the baby to the central base, to houses of our inspectors," Leonid said, telling us how he participated in that operation. "Happiness overwhelmed me - I will see a bear. However, I tried to hide the emotions. Everything went fine, and the baby found its mom, and I found another favorite animal: in my heart tigers and leopards had to move aside to allow bears in. Since that day, I have met different bears of different age and sex, but I will always remember the face of that - first - bear."
In autumn, before the sea freezes and bears could leave the island, they may come to the central base searching for food. The animals may look inside houses through windows. Thus, every window has grids with spikes, and every door has a strong latch.
"The safety rule is elementary: always look around, never approach wild animals, remember you are in a nature reserve and do not disturb animals. In case of an interest towards you - walk away, but never run, do not shout. Rather light a false-fire (a special torch, which gives strong light and produces loud hissing - TASS), it will repel anyone, even a tiger, I’ve tested it myself. Always carry a pepper spray, rarely - a gun, if you are licensed to have one. I carry a pistol at all times," Leonid said.
The Arctic bear population on the Wrangel Island is about 400, not to count those which migrate across the Arctic. The nature reserve is called a "maternity": every winter, between 300 and 500 future moms occupy dens there.
Leonid has come to a conclusion, which coincides with scientific data, Chukotka-Alaska bears are not aggressive, they are even skittish, which makes them different from other bears, for example those, which live on the Franz Josef Land.
"If a tiger steps forward, it will finish the move, even if somebody fires at it," Leonid said. "As for the Arctic bear, you may stop it: shout at it, raise hands, frighten it off somehow. Sometimes to me they resemble dogs: for example you see it in a distance, welcome it, and look - here it is coming to you, even waving the tail."
Polar night and lights
Another challenge on the island is the Arctic climate, which requires wearing warm outfits. It is nothing extraordinary to get frostbites when you drive a snow bike.
However, there are ways to survive in frosts. A bigger challenge is to live over the polar day and night.
"In autumn, daylight shrinks to 2-3 hours. Later on, comes the polar night, which remains to May - the absolute darkness day and night. And from mid-May, vice versa, the Sun would not disappear. Those are interesting periods to test psychological and physical wellbeing," Leonid said.
Once, during one of such nights, while inspecting a den, Leonid for the first time saw the polar lights. The phenomenon continued for just 5-10 minutes, but those were unforgettable minutes: another childhood dream came true.
"The lights here are not rich in colors, like in other latitudes. But back then, I forgot I was 31 years of age, I was jumping with joy, like a child, I laughed, and like a typical urban boy hurried to make selfies. The colleagues were shocked, but I could not control myself," Leonid said.
Routine work changes with seasons: spring and autumn are the time to count bears. For a few months Leonid and his colleagues drive across the island searching for dens.
The task is not just to count the animals, but also to see how they live. For that, Leonid crawls inside the dens, making sure no one is in.
Inside the narrow entrance, he measures the length, width and collects bio material. "I’ve been lucky to get into four dens - within just a couple months," the biologist said.
Expecting guests
Tourists, as a rule, come to the Wrangel Island by cruise vessels between June and late September. The nature reserve offers nine eco routes. The most popular is around the island with landing for short sightseeing tours. Another route is fundamental - with accommodation in comfortable houses. Travelers may see polar bears and grey whales, musk oxen and Arctic foxes.
"Due to the coronavirus, many countries have been locked, and the staff did not have to spend time on tourists. Most efforts and reserves have been targeted at development of the tourism, scientific and technical infrastructures," he said.
In 2021, the nature reserve will equip special platforms to survey birds, will build a visitor center, restore the museum and continue work with volunteers. Two tourist cruises have been scheduled for 2021.
The reserve’s staff plan to travel only in late December, when they will go to Pevek (Chukotka’s north) to file reports. It will be the first escape to the mainland since spring, 2020. Leonid will be able to travel home only another year later.
"I have everything I need. Without communication, I can focus on the main aspects. I enjoy emotional balance here, I do not waste time on extras. I’ve fallen in love with this place and want to stay here for another two years," the biologist said. "Here, I am in the natural environment, I can see unique animals. Hearing the sounds of 5,000 walruses at a rookery is better than listening to your favorite rock group.".