Animal Kingdom

The noble deer is Kharkov Region inhabitant too
The animal kingdom of the forests in Kharkiv region is varied and interesting.

In May and June the birds have their nesting period. During this time the forests are full of birds' singing: orioles, titmice, cuckoos, blackbirds, the woodpecker's roll, the magpie's chattering, the nightingale's warbling. In the silence of the winter forest you can hear quiet and tuneful singing of the waxwings.

About 800 pheasant were brought and acclimatised in the Kharkiv region in order to increase its bird population. Quail and partridges can often be found in fields and groves. The places where the forest comes close to the water are inhabited by wild ducks, herons, gulls.

Moving along the motor roads, crossing the forests of the Kharkiv region, the driver would often see hoarding boards with the inscription "Mind the animals!" And you really cannot help slowing down when you see a grey hare (there are over 35000 of them in the region), a red fox, or a graceful roe trotting across the road.

In the thicket you come across the traces of a wild boar: a piece of rooted ground. Up to 1980, the population of the wild boars (that were brought in from the Far East) had increased to almost three thousand.

However unlikely it might seem, in the forests near Kharkov you could even encounter an elk and a red deer. The deer were brought in from Belovezhskaya Pushcha and Voronezh national parks and perfectly acclimatised here. Martens, and rabbits, and squirrels live here as well. Even wolves have remained here in small quantities. In the steppe zone - in Burlucksky and Yekaterininsky nature reserves - live relict animals - steppe marmots (over 35000).

And all this wildlife live grow and reproduce alongside the man, in close vicinity to factories and through-passages. Owing to the man's attention, owing to his conservation activities there are no less animals in the forests planted by him than in the farthest corners of the taiga woods!

Specialised agencies are involved in breeding, observation, shooting of the wild animals: these agencies are Izyumsky and Gutyansky game preserves, Novovodolazhskoye forest preserve, "Skripai" training preserve.

Over 27 thousand hectares of forest land is allotted to voluntary hunters' and anglers' societies of Kharkiv region, including about 16 thousand hectares of preserve land run by the region or district authorities.

It is more likely to see a hunter without his shotgun in the forest, he would have feed, an axe, or a spade instead. They are responsible for maintaining order in the forest: they clean up brushwood, tend newly planted shoots, guard them, help feeding animals and birds in bad weather conditions, fix racks and salt feeders, stockpile hay and make sweeping bunches. The game for a true hunter is not an end in itself, his primary goal is to help nature preserve its reaches.

Hunting is only allowed during a set period, and the planned shooting of wild animals is a source of considerable income for the state.

Forests, gardens, river basin fields, virginal parts of grassland are an excellent basis for apiculture. The work staff of Izyumsky, Balakleysky and other forest agencies turn tons of curative honey over to the state.