Collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s took its toll on wildlife like wild boar, brown bear and moose

#russianwildlife #wildlifeprotection #sovietcollapse Any political upheaval affects not only the people but also wildlife as is borne out by the drop in the numbers of wild boar, brown bear and moose following the socioeconomic shocks that came after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.
A study carried out by Eugenia Bragina from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US on large mammal species in Russia has concluded that most of them experienced a sharp decline in numbers from 1991. The probable reason attributed is the increase in poaching and the gradual erosion of wildlife protection enforcement.
As the study explained - all three species of wild boar, brown bear and moose have different requirements of habitat and the decline in numbers were not the result of a disturbance to one particular type of habitat.
They have quoted examples like the moose prefer successional forests where there are young trees that they can forage on. Wild boar gorge on agricultural crops and people in the Soviet Union used to go in for planting such crops to feed this species.
However, one species of wildlife recorded a phenomenal increase – it was the grey wolf. In the times of the Soviet Union, there was control on the population of grey wolves in the form of offering incentives to hunt the wolves.
However, once the turmoil began, the authorities lost sight of such measures and the numbers grew by 150% during the decade that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. And – the increase in grey wolves led to the decline of the moose.
The study also found that the wild boar population in Russia is now gradually picking up because they have discovered alternate food sources. Similar appears to be the case with the roe deer and brown bear.