On September 24, a press conference dedicated to the largest expedition in the last decade to study Arctic animal species was held in Moscow. The expedition was organized by the specialists of the Arctic Scientific Center LLC together with the A.N. Severtsov IEE RAS and the Center for Marine Research of Lomonosov Moscow State University. The participants of the press conference talked about the expedition and presented the atlas “Russian Arctic. Space. Time. Resource.", which is a collection of valuable scientific data on physical geography, ecology and the history of research in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The expedition lasted a little over a month. The research vessel left the port of Arkhangelsk and headed for the northern part of the Arctic Ocean. The expedition members were divided into two main groups: some studied polar bears, others - the Atlantic walrus. The first group was based at the Cape Zhelaniya station of the Russian Arctic National Park. The second group was based on the research vessel "Ivan Petrov" in the area of the island of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, as well as the Oran Islands and Victoria Island. Director of the Institute, Academician of RAS Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Rozhnov declared that the task of biologists and ecologists in the Arctic is to study how animals adapt to changing conditions, including climatic ones. To do this, scientists use a variety of methods - they set up camera traps, place GPS collars on animals, and also use non-invasive methods - for example, collect animal secretions. These methods do not imply contact with animals; therefore, they are the safest for both scientists and the objects of study. V.V. Rozhnov noted: "Polar bears, walruses and whales receive special attention in the study of the Russian Arctic, because these species are at the very top of the food chain pyramid, so they reflect the state of the ecosystem as a whole in most detail." Ilya Nikolaevich Mordvintsev, head of polar bear research, ecologist, expert in climatology and ice conditions at IEE RAS, spoke about how polar bears are tested and why they are immobilized: “The polar bear is a dangerous animal. There is a set of drugs that are least harmful to animals. We use them while taking into account the weight of the animal. At that moment, while the animal is sleeping and immobilized, we put a GPS collar on it, take blood and wool tests. The total time the analyses require is always different, but after we have finished, an antidote is introduced so that the animal wakes up and can walk on its own. It is important for us to check that the bear is in a stable and good condition and will be able to fend for itself when meeting another animal. At the same time, there is always a specialist with a veterinary education among our researchers. " Ilya Nikolayevich added that over the entire period of work, almost 100 polar bears were immobilized, and all cases ended safely for both animals and humans. Ilya Nikolayevich also noted the problem of the depletion of bears. This is primarily due to the reduction of ice in the Arctic. If earlier a polar bear could freely hunt seals, now due to the reduction of the ice area it does not always have such an opportunity. As a result, bears feed on shore pickings and look for food on land, including in the grass. However, the bears are adapting - if in 2012 we encountered six emaciated individuals, then this year all were in good state. Svetlana Mikhailovna Artemyeva, head of the expedition, head of walrus research, leading engineer of the laboratory of behavior and behavioral ecology of mammals at IEE RAS, spoke about who is part of such expeditions and how the work was carried out: “It is very important that the team works harmoniously, as one organism. It is equally important that there is understanding with the ship's crew. In this expedition, everything was well aligned, which helped to achieve very high results. Most of the staff consists of experienced professionals, but sometimes young students are included. Volunteers and tourists are not taken on such expeditions, since the number of cabins on the ship is limited. " A large-scale survey of walruses has not been carried out for over a decade. Svetlana Mikhailovna is one of the most prominent walrus specialists in Russia. She shared that this expedition managed to put satellite tags on walruses and monitor their movements in real time. This allows to observe how walruses use the waters of Franz Josef Land. During the expedition, new habitats of marine mammals were discovered. In total, 3,300 walruses were counted during the voyage - this is a very important result, because according to the literature, this numbers of this group only reached 3,000 individuals. At the press conference, special attention was paid to the great collective work of a large number of specialists - the atlas “Russian Arctic. Space. Time. Resources". The huge book weighs 5 kg. And this is not surprising, because 140 authors worked on the atlas - researchers, scientists, cartographers and illustrators. The circulation of the edition is 1200 copies. It will be distributed to scientific libraries and events that attract the scientific community. This atlas is not just a book that contains all the relevant and known information at the moment, but also a fixation of those observations and studies that will be very useful to compare with new data published in future editions. Indeed, despite the fact that scientists have a lot of work to do with the samples collected during the expedition, the next one is already planned for the next year. The Arctic is a region that is not always ready to receive guests, only for a short period of time a year. And a large number of specialists and scientists work all year round to analyze the data obtained and plan new research. Additional information:  https://innopraktika.ru/news/1393/

The first stage of filming of the unique documentary "Edge Of The World" in the Russian Arctic National Park has been finished. The film depicts the work of Russian scientists in the Arctic and the long-term study of the Red Book polar bear in the protected archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya. The documentary is being filmed on a grant from the Russian Geographical Society. The first phase of filming took place at the field station of Cape Zhelaniya Park of Novaya Zemlya. The documentary cinematographer and editing director Maxim Pervakov filmed for two months the work on monitoring the polar bear population of the scientific group of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The head of the Russian Arctic stressed that in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, logistics in the protected areas were complicated by the lack of tourist flights on Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land. “It was only possible to carry out the expedition to the Park in the planned volume, in addition to taking pictures, thanks to the financial support of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia,” Kirilov emphasized. The central characters of the film "Edge Of The World", a group of biologists led by a senior researcher at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, Ph.D. Ilya Mordvintsev working on Novaya Zemlya for the third time in 2020. Scientists have studied six bears. The footage of the installation of a bait on a bear and direct monitoring (weighing, taking samples of blood, fur, etc.) will be included in a future documentary. “As soon as I was at Cape Zhelaniya, the bears began to come to the base every day,” recalls the documentary cameraman Maxim Pervakov. “Some tried to climb up the dwelling through the fences, others attacked the equipment, and there were some animals that seemed to be “posing” for the camera. I got involved in the work of the research group and was able to benefit from the research: we used the unmanned aerial vehicle to bring the bear to the bait several times." It deserves mention that in addition to filming the story about bears, the operator filmed the picturesque nature of the northernmost point of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, participated in foot and sea raids of inspectors and visited one of the largest Atlantic walrus rookeries in the western part of the Russian Arctic. Additionally, Maxim Pervakov recorded interviews with scientists and state inspectors of the "Russian Arctic". “I fell in love with the Arctic. I am very grateful to the team of inspectors of the Russian Arctic, they are real polar warriors who were always ready to help me in filming. Now I'm looking forward to the start of filming of the second stage of the project, on the Alexandra Land island of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, in the spring of next year, ” said the cameraman Maxim Pervakov. Indeed, spring in the Arctic is considered the most favorable period for observing polar bears. It is at this time that the females take out the grown cubs from the snow dens. “Now we need to watch and decipher the simply gigantic amount of material that Maxim Pervakov filmed in two months,” said the film's director Marina Menshikova. Earlier I said that I want to combine our project with a 1969 film about the work of the zoologist Savva Uspensky in the Arctic. In the Soviet film, the scientist examines the cubs, so the shots that need to be taken in the spring when the bears leave their dens are extremely important for our team.   Additional information: https://www.rgo.ru/ru/article/na-novoy-zemle-zavershyon-pervyy-etap-syomok-filma-medvezhiy-ugol  

Leopards released in August are slowly settling into the nature of the Caucasus. So far, their collars have sent quite a lot of signals via satellite, some of which have already been checked on site by the field monitoring teams. During the first days, all released animals moved near the places of release, since they were not used to the fact that their movement was not limited by the boundaries of the enclosure. Both in the Caucasian reserve (Krasnodar region / Adygea) and in the Turmon reserve (North Ossetia), the males, first of all, chose the direction up the slope and climbed the nearest mountain. This is what Kodor did in the Caucasus Nature Reserve - he climbed up to 2500 msl, while Baksan in North Ossetia traveled from the place of release up to 1400 msl. Females prefer the path with less resistance, they went lower or kept to the same heights where they were released. Laba preferred altitudes of 2000-2400 msl in the Caucasian reserve, Agura - 600-800 msl in Ossetia. To date, all leopards keep to the specially protected natural areas where they were released. During the period after the release of all the animals, Baksan alone once left the Turmon reserve, but moved no further than 1.5 km, after which he returned. In the Caucasian nature reserve Laba has already covered about 56 km, the Kodor - about 50 km. At the same time, the paths of the released leopards never crossed, because they initially chose different directions. Now there are about 4 km between them. Neither went far from the place of release - in a straight line, this distance is no more than 6 km. In North Ossetia, Baksan traveled at least 72 km, moving as far as possible from the place of release by 8 km, Agura - for about 47 km, moving approximately 12.5 km away from the place of release. Once free, these individuals never met, however Agura came to check the place where Baksan caught his first jackal. At the moment, the distance between them is about 5 km. In the Caucasian nature reserve, Laba conducted two successful hunts, both times catching a chamois. Kodor hunted once in the habitual spots of many aurochs and red deer. It is likely that one of these ungulates could have become his quarry. After the release, Agura hunted twice: a raccoon dog and probably a jackal became her prey. During the time of tracking him, Baksan also established two hunting spots, the scientists checking one of them, making sure that he had caught two jackals. Releasing into the wild Central Asian leopards raised at the Leopard Restoration Center in the Caucasus is the first step towards creating a new population: there should be at least 50 leopards in the North Caucasus. All animals are specially tested, they know how to hunt wild ungulates and avoid encounters with humans. The program for the restoration of the Central Asian leopard in the Caucasus is being implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia with the participation of the Sochi National Park, the Caucasian Nature Reserve, the World Fund for Nature, the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. A. N. Severtsov of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPEE RAS), the Moscow Zoo, with the assistance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). In North Ossetia, RusHydro provides financial support for the population recovery program.

A group of researchers from IEE RAS, Mari and Penza State Universities, the Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Privolzhskaya Forest-Steppe State Nature Reserve and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris discovered a new variant of limb deformation in amphibians under the influence of trematodes. Previously, only two reliably proven cases of morphological anomalies in amphibians under the influence of trematodes were known: in North America, the trematode Ribeiroia ondatrae causes the development of extra limbs and various limb deformities in amphibians, while Acanthostomum burminis leads to different variants of amelia, i.e. lack of limbs. The new variant was discovered after studying morphological anomalies in green frogs, known as the "anomaly P" and described in the late 40s - early 50s of the XX century by the famous French scientist and writer Jean Rostand. Anomaly P is a complex polymorphic syndrome that includes two main types of deformities: polydactyly (an increase in the number of fingers), as a milder variant, and severe forms, including tumor-like outgrowths and shortening of the extremities (brachymelia), the presence of bony outgrowths and polydactyly, creating a "brush" of more than 7 fingers. Jean Rostand studied the anomalies for 20 years, trying to understand the causes of these deformities, but he could not accurately establish them, suggesting the viral nature of the deformities. Despite the frequent occurrence of polydactyly in green frogs, scientists since the end of Jean Rostand's activity in the 70s have not been able to detect severe forms. In 2016, a team found massive polydactyly, and then the first (since the 70s) variants of severe forms of the anomaly P, which was confirmed by Professor A. Dubois, a student of Jean Rostand, who worked with him on this problem. Detailed studies have revealed that an anomaly occurs when keeping tadpoles of green frogs with planorbid molluscs. Having studied the species composition of trematodes parasitizing at larval stages in mollusks, the researchers identified a spectrum of species that are most suitable for the role of an infectious agent. Leonid A. Neymark, Anton O. Svinin, Ivan V. Bashinskiy,M.M Zaks, 4, Oleg A. Ermakov Direct experiments on infecting tadpoles with various doses of cercariae have revealed that polydactyly and severe forms of anomaly P are caused by the influence of the trematode Strigea robusta. Trematode species were identified both by morphology and by molecular genetic methods (markers ITS2 and 28S rRNA). It was found that this species also reduces the survival rate of tadpoles, and the manifestation of the anomaly P was discovered to be dependent on the stage of development, the dose of cercariae, and the localization of metacercariae in the tadpole. Vitalij V. Osipov and Ivan V. Bashinskiy You may read an article "Strigea robusta causes polydactyly and severe forms of Rostand’s anomaly P in water frogs" here. Anton O. Svinin  

Congratulations to Sergei Oganesovich Movsesyan, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Scientific Director of the Joint Scientific and Experimental Center of the Institute of Zoology, National Center for Ecology and Geology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia and the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of Sciences, with the awarding of the medal of the Order of Merit to the Fatherland of the second degree for his great contribution to the development of science and long-term conscientious work by decree of the President of the Russian Federation N177 on issuing state awards of the Russian Federation. Award video enclosed

The updated Program for the restoration (reintroduction) of the Persian leopard in the Caucasus part of its range was developed by the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS) and WWF-Russia in accordance with the Working Group protocol instructions given for the implementation of that Program by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russian Federation. Program document takes into account all comments and recommendations received from members of Working group. During work on the Program The A.K. Tembotov Institute of Mountain Ecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and The Caspian Institute of Biological Resources of the Dagestan Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences were involved. The Attachment to the updated Program for the restoration (reintroduction) of the Persian leopard in the Caucasus part of its range (Guideline for the leopard breeding center (keeping animals and monitoring and training them before release) was developed by the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS) and WWF-Russia in accordance with the Working Group protocol instructions given for the implementation of that Program by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russian Federation. The protocol document takes into account all comments and recommendations received from members of Working group. Experts from the Moscow Zoo and ‘Leopard Land’ National Park were involved. Authors: Rozhnov V.V., Yachmennikova A.A., Dronova N.A., Phitikov A.B.,Magomedov M.-R.D., Chestin I.E., Mnatsekanov R.A., Blidchenko E.Yu., Voshchanova I.P., Alshinetski M.V., Alibekov A.B You can download the book for free here.

The polar bears are the largest land-based predators on the planet. They have been living in the Arctic ice for centuries. However, it becomes more and more difficult each year for them to survive in their natural habitat due to ice melting, poaching, anthropogenic factors, etc. To keep the Master of the Arctic safe, the Federal service for supervision of natural resources of the Russian Federation (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), the International Environmental Fund "Clean seas" and the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization "Arctic Initiatives" signed a tripartite agreement on conducting air count tests. They are going to take place from August 1 to August 20, 2020 in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. PROJECT PLAN A.N.Severtsov Institute's of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences specialists in polar bears and marine mammals are to fly over the total of 10 thousand kilometers from Amderma and Sabetta. Their task is to study the distribution and calculate the number of polar bears (the population of Barents and Kara Seas area) on land and islands in the ice-free period for the first time. The scientists are also collecting detailed information on the sea mammals living in the same area as the polar bear and how they interact with each other. Another mission of the specialists is to assess the overall environmental situation in the studied area of the Arctic. During the expedition they are assisted by experienced pilots and the LA-8 amphibious aircraft which represents the Russian small aircraft. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION Due to volatile weather conditions in the Arctic the flights got delayed. The first one took place in the afternoon of August 3. On the same day the indigenous people of the tundra celebrated the Reindeer Day. They held different traditional competitions and played games, rested together and received guests. The plane flew towards the Vaygach Island. In around three hours, the plane flew 600 km in total over the shore of the island. There were no bears, but the team still got to see approximately 35 beluga whales, waving their tails at the researchers. On the board of the plane scientists work in groups of 3 to 4 people. Two observers track moving objects, record them with a camera and a special program, as well as use a clinometer to measure the angle and calculate the coordinates of those objects. They do it from different sides of the plane simultaneously through rounded, convex glass windows also known as blisters. The other specialist inputs the data into a computer. After finishing all of the air count tests, the data will be thoroughly processed and analyzed. On August 4, the team explored the Baidarata Bay and flew over the west coast. They pointed out that their route turned out to be very scenic. However, the bright rainbow to the left side of the aircraft was only seen by the pilots, as the scientists were too caught up in the search of mammals with their binoculars. Just like the previous time, the team did not see any bears, but they met white whales again. Judging by the way those belugas were moving, the scientists suggested that pod of 15 whales was hunting. Some of them were 3-4 meters long, and some were with their calves. On August 5th the researchers flew over the eastern part of the Pechora Sea where the Dolgiy and Matveev islands are located. They flew about 900 km and saw white whales, but not in pods this time. There were more than ten whales swimming by themselves. When the team arrived on the Matveev Island they conducted a joint study with the Nenets State Nature Reserve. Together they counted walruses at the rookery. The Reserve's team counted them from the ground, and the specialists of the project did it from the air. The exact data on the number of animals will be obtained after processing all of the gathered information. The researchers also visited the nearby village to ask its local residents if they had interesting stories about living close to the Master of the Arctic. It turned out that the polar bears were frequent guests there and they did not hesitate to come straight into villager's houses from time to time! However, the project's team have not yet met any white bears, neither on the ground, nor from the air. THE INTERMEDIATE RESULTS According to preliminary calculations within the span of 3 days the specialists have seen: · Approximately 220 walruses at the rookery · About 11 walruses in the water · Around 72 white whales · Several garbage patches in the water and plenty of waste piles on the shores. The ground there is densely covered with scrap metal, including, countless fuel barrels The crew of scientists and pilots have to cover the total of nine routes! Some of them get corrected right during the flights, all because of the changeable weather of the Arctic, which affects in how many days and hours the air count tests can be done.  

The current state of the polar bear population and its distribution in the Arctic is an issue that has been of concern to the specialists studying this region for decades. The polar bear is the largest representative of the family Ursidae and the order Carnivora. This bear is protected by the Russian and International Red Data Book. It is the top of the food chain in its habitat and an important indicator of the entire Arctic ecosystem. Today the world, especially the circumpolar countries, Canada, the US, Norway and Denmark, is drawn to polar bears. In the 1970s, Russia counted these predators every year, but in recent decades only expert estimates of the state of the polar bear population have been published based mostly on lair count: how many lairs, where they are and how many cubs. However, it is impossible to see the full picture with this method. "We have to know how many bears there are in different parts of the Arctic to see which processes the population is undergoing, how far the bears migrate, the structure of various groups, and the threats the bears are exposed to considering human activity and environmental processes. We need to create this kind of comprehensive monitoring," noted academician Vyacheslav Rozhnov, director of the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the Russian Academy of Sciences.   The first footprints in the snow On March 25, 2020, the Federal Supervisory Natural Resources Management Service (Rosprirodnadzor), the Arctic Initiatives Center NGO and the Clean Seas International Environmental Foundation signed an agreement to carry out air count tests of polar bears and marine mammals as well as to evaluate the overall environmental situation in the Russian Arctic. The work will result in a comprehensive plan to count polar bears in the Russian Federation in 2021-2024 as part of the Ecology national project. "We would like to see the real picture and the current state of the population, the numbers and the natural conditions of the polar bear's habitat. At the same time, we'll count other things like toxic waste sites, landfills, and garbage dumps. We'll also record updates on the ice situation. We have to see how effective this work is. When scientists provide the necessary information, our agency will be able to develop a system of state support measures," said Rosprirodnadzor Head Svetlana Radionova, who initiated this project.   Taking off Air count tests are now carried from an LA-8 amphibious aircraft designed for use in any latitude or climatic zone. The flight captain is an experienced test pilot, cosmonaut, Hero of Russia Valery Tokarev. The plane is to cover over 10,000 square kilometers in total. It took off on August 3, 2020 in Amderma (Nenets Autonomous Area) and is about to fly along eight routes overall to the northwest and northeast over the Kara Sea, and the Yamal and Taimyr peninsulas, plus the gulfs of Ob and Gyda. "The planes were modified with thermal cameras; clear blisters and special photo and video cameras were installed to film from low altitudes. You should always take the Arctic seriously, because the weather can be different; it changes often. For me, it is very interesting, both personally and professionally. We will do something useful for the country and for the next generation. If we can interest young people in the Arctic and get them dreaming of traveling there to see it for themselves, everyone will gain from this," said Valery Tokarev. Andrei Ivanov, head of the Ilyushin Il-14 renovation program and Mansur the bear's "dad" is the co-pilot. The expedition includes researchers from the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution (leading engineers Dmitry Glazov and Yevgeny Nazarenko, engineer Gleb Pilipenko and senior researcher Ilya Mordvintsev), Head of the Environmental Monitoring Lab of the State Oceanographic Institute Maria Pogozheva, junior researcher of the Ecology Research Institute Angelina Gnedenko, staff from the Clean Seas International Environmental Foundation (General Director Vasily Bogoslovsky, his deputy Anna Subbotina and Special Projects Manager Olga Karelina), director of aerial filming studio Vladimir Filippov, and documentary filmmaker Leonid Kruglov. "It is true that no one has counted polar bears for a long time. There have been no comprehensive counts. We are carrying out a test count, but I hope we will manage to accomplish it. This involves a lot of work from officials, pilots, scientists, engineers, designers, and operators. As Viktor Konetsky once said: ‘It doesn't matter how you travel — rail or sail — it's a lot of work, responsibility and stamina of those who go forward," said Vasily Bogoslovsky, General Director of the Clean Seas International Environmental Foundation, honored worker of the naval and river fleet, and honored polar explorer.   Famous name and important goals The project was named Master of the Arctic: this is what polar bears are often called. Scientists want to estimate the numbers and distribution of the polar bears, their state during the summer and fall, the age and gender structure of the population in the area they study and the parameters of their habitat, as well as evaluate the level of anthropogenic pollution and the role of natural and anthropogenic factors in the dynamics of the polar bear population. "In fact, the project was launched 10 years ago on Franz Josef Land, when the cleaning of the Arctic started. Without science, it is impossible to take any measures or see why certain processes take place in nature or what we can do to use negative processes for positive purposes. We had been thinking about establishing a system to monitor polar bears across the entire Arctic for a long time and started developing it. First, we studied space shots and tried looking for bears on the white ice. My colleagues managed to do this. We could have used this as a counting method. However, surface methods on land, ice and snow are also necessary, as well as flights in small planes and, I hope, with unmanned aerial vehicles in the future, because you can't fly very far in small planes in the Arctic. We also have preliminary experience in counting from a private plane, but, of course, this is not enough," said academician Vyacheslav Rozhnov, director of the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution. Rozhnov added that similar polar bear counts have been carried out in Alaska and Chukotka, and the first instrumental results that showed the real number of polar bears and seals (feeding base) in the region were recorded. According to Rozhnov, these data were extremely important because they can help forecast the future: knowing the size of the food base and the population's age structure will make it possible to predict whether the population will grow or decline. "At this stage, we do not plan direct contact with the bears, although this will also be part of our work: we tag the bears with special collars to monitor their movement, collect biological samples to see the processes within the population, to monitor their health and how stressed they are. This work is aimed at improving counting methods. In fact, this is very difficult. I hope we will receive interesting and important data that will serve as the initial step in creating and developing efficient tools for counting," Vyacheslav Rozhnov noted. Rozhnov also noted how important it was that businesses and the state support such research.   Who is supporting this? General Director of the Arctic Initiatives Center Andrei Patrushev said that it was easier now to involve businesses in addressing environmental tasks in the Arctic because a lot has been done to create favorable economic conditions in the region. "The state adopted a strategy to preserve the polar bear population. In order to implement it, the collective efforts of the government, business, and public organizations are necessary. The Master of the Arctic project is a good step to begin this work," Patrushev noted. He also stressed that environmental responsibility must be taken into account when implementing economic projects: you can't harm the environment when you work there, only improve it. "The Arctic ecosystem is very sensitive to any impact from the outside, and due to its natural and geographical peculiarities any environmental problems will probably be transformed from a regional to a global issue. In this sense, the management of organizations that carry out or plan to carry out economic activities in the Arctic must understand that there are lots of possibilities for business, but it is unacceptable to use these opportunities without caring about preserving the unique Arctic flora and fauna. Yes, companies' expenses on environmental projects in the Arctic can be significant, but in the long run they will create a favorable social environment and therefore a sustainable profit," Andrei Patrushev added. Svetlana Radionova noted that Rosprirodnadzor could serve as a bridge between scientists and businesses in this issue. "We need to remind ourselves, and the state and businesses, how to behave in the Arctic to prevent the polar bear's habitat from being damaged. And, most importantly, we have to understand whether it's time to ring the alarm or we can still continue with support measures. This project was very easy for us: we quickly met with understanding from scientists, and we received public's support; then businesses were found that know why they're going to the Arctic, how they'll live there and for how long. These are not temporary business activities; they will explore the region kilometer by kilometer while preserving its fragile ecosystem. I am calling on these businesses to continue this program and make it an annual process," she said. Radionova also emphasized that the large, beautiful, and fragile Arctic is part of our common home. "We are just returning home to see what's going on there. At the same time, we can't forget that we are visiting the polar bear's home and we must adjust to its life, not the other way round. Let's respect the predator and try to save it from harm. I hope that this is just the first step and that we will make quick progress, like an escalator: we will get a clear picture of what we are and how our home looks and will be able to adopt adequate supervision measures and a policy to help this gracious and strong animal to live safely in its habitat and fully own it."  

On July 9, 2020 the updates of the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) were published. Among others, these changes affected the common hamster (Cricetus cricetus), a species that 50 years ago was very numerous both in Western Europe and in Russia, being both a pest of agriculture and a commercial species. However, afterwards its number throughout the entire range began to decline sharply, and in a number of European countries it disappeared completely. The common hamster status, according to the IUCN classification, has risen from LC (Least Concern) to CR (Critically Endangered). Thus, the common hamster has passed 4 stages of conservation status in a row, which is an unprecedented case. Previously, it was as common as the gray rat (Rattus norvegicus) or the common squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), but now its status is the same as that of the saiga (Saiga tatarica) or black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis)! This, however, does not mean that hamsters are now as few as rhinos: the IUCN estimate takes into account not so much the total number of the species, but rather its trends and the risk of extinction. In European countries, the situation with the common hamster is the most dramatic. In Russia and Kazakhstan, their numbers are decreasing as well, but in many regions this species is not only numerous, but even causes harm to property. It is felt specifically by villagers and summer residents. A group of employees of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the leadership of Corresponding Member of the RAS A.V. Surov and Doctor of Biological Sciences N.Yu. Feoktistova has been collecting information on the distribution of the common hamster in Russia and Kazakhstan for the past 7 years, conducting phylogenetic and phylogeographic analysis, and studying the behavior and physiology of this species. The group also participated in the assignment of a new environmental status to this species. Together with European colleagues, they processed their own and published foreign data on the dynamics of the species abundance, changes in reproductive indicators, mortality, and studied the factors influencing these processes. It was shown that in the next 20-30 years, if the existing trends persist, the species can disappear completely (Surov et al., 2016). On the other hand, on the basis of molecular genetic analysis, phylogenetic relationships between Western European and Russian genetic lines have been established, which opens up prospects for the restoration of endangered European populations (Feoktistova et al., 2017, 2018). Редкая форма хомяка-меланиста с белыми пятнами на груди и лапах. Животное поймано на приусадебном участке в д. Дубенки. Нижегородской области в июле 2020 года. In 2020, despite the difficult epidemiological situation with Covid-19, an expedition was carried out to regions not previously covered by our studies of the common hamster. The very next day after the publication of the new IUCN list, the expedition set out towards the Ural Mountains. Their path, about 5000 km long, ran through Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov, Perm, Kungur, Krasnoufimsk, Yekaterinburg, Zlatoust, Ufa, Tambov and Ryazan. The tasks of the expedition were not only to discover the state of the populations of the species on the northern border of the range, but also to establish the border between the phylogeographic groups E0 and Altai, which presumably passes through the Urals. In addition, they were interested in the question of the ratio of color morphs of the common hamster along the route. The problems of color diversity of the common hamster were first posed by P.S. Pallas (1776), when a scientist discovered cubs of both black and variegated colors in one burrow. Later, this topic was studied by such well-known scientists as I.P. Lepekhin, G.S. Karelin, G. Petch, S.I. Ognev and others. S.I. Ognev not only considered these forms as "color aberrations", but also noted for the first time that in some regions of Russia the black morph predominates over the usual one, and concluded that Маршрут работы экспедиции ИПЭЭ РАН (июль 2020 года) "... we have here an example, although a weak one, of a geographically differentiated aberration." S.V. Kirikov (1934) noted the predominance of black hamsters along the northern boundaries of the range. But a special place is occupied by the works of the Soviet geneticist S.M. Gershenzon, who, having examined more than two million skins obtained from the procurement office of Bashkiria and Ukraine, built maps of the distribution of the black morph, established a relationship between the proportion of melanists and the season, total number, and natural zones. He also noted a greater variety of color morphs in Bashkiria (Gershenzon, Polevoy, 1940, 1941; Gershenzon, 1941, 1945). One of the tasks of the expedition was to establish the modern boundaries of the distribution of the melanistic form in the north of the area. It is curious that since the time of S.M. Gershenzon, the boundaries of the distribution of melanistic hamsters, by and large, have not changed and their share gradually decreases from north to south. Обработка материала в полевых условиях It should be noted that the 2020 expedition was carefully prepared thanks to the detailed study of Internet resources and work with correspondents. In most places, researchers were already waiting for either captured live animals, or already collected samples of their tissues (in case the hamsters were crushed by a cat or dog). So the success of the expedition depended not so much on "lady luck", but also on the local residents, who provided invaluable assistance in collecting material throughout this difficult, albeit very interesting route. This is the owner of the equestrian sports club "Horse-fire" in the village of Dubenki – Olga, and blogger Maxim Chirkov, senior researcher, head of the lab at the All-Russian Research Institute of Hunting and Animal Breeding RAS named after Professor B.M. Zhitkov, Doctor of Biological Sciences A.P. Saveliev, employee of the regional newspaper "Vestnik Truda" T. Sheshegova from the urban-type settlement Nema, employees of FBUZ "TsGiE of the Republic of Bashkortostan" O.V. Ivanova and Minzilya, as well as the gardener Khabir with his wife, Irina and Yuri from Yekaterinburg, associate professor at G.R. Derzhavin Tambov State University A.S. Sokolov and many other enthusiasts who helped the expedition and became our good friends. Момент передачи «ночного урожая» садоводов ученым The peculiarities of this summer made the field work more difficult also because the sun was blazing mercilessly throughout the route, and the daytime temperature did not drop below 34ºC, without a single drop of rain. So we can rightfully say that the expedition took place in a “hot, friendly atmosphere”. According to its results, blogger Maxim Chirkov has already made a video (https://youtu.be/OHo94d5cbZo), and a new article is being prepared for the Vestnik Truda newspaper. The genetic samples and materials obtained during the expedition will be processed and used for an article in the near future.

A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of Sciences within the framework of the Ministry of Education and Science project "Updating the instrument base of the leading organizations performing research and development in the academic sector of science" has acquired new equipment for the electron microscopy room: - Scanning electron microscope TESCAN MIRA 3 LMH - is equipped with a Schottky cathode, a detector for studying samples "in the light" and an energy dispersive microanalysis system AZtecOneX-act. (SEM TESCAN MIRA 3 LMH is one of the most modern hi-tech devices - a universal analytical complex for studying the morphology and ultrastructure of biological and industrial objects with an ultrahigh spatial resolution based on a scanning electron microscope and conducting a semi-quantitative microanalysis of biological samples. The Schottky auto-emission cathode provides resolution - 1.2 nm at 30 kV, magnification range without distortion of the field of view from 2 X to 1 000 000 X, scanning speed 20 ns / pixel, image saving up to 16 384 X 6 384 pixels and high performance. Energy dispersive microanalysis system AZtecOneX-act allows obtaining SEM images in secondary or reflected electrons, building maps of the distribution of elements in a certain area and obtaining color representations of several elements in one summary image with the possibility of overlaying them on an electronic image). - Sputtering installation Q150R ES Plus (Quorum Technologies) (Sample preparation device for rapid preparation of samples by deposition of carbon or metal from the vapor phase on non-conductive biological and industrial samples to create a conductive surface). - Automatic drying at a critical point Leica EM CPD300 (A system for automatic soft drying of biological and industrial samples at a critical point for examination in a scanning electron microscope in high vacuum conditions. Drying of such samples as pollen, plant and animal tissues with the maximum possible preservation of their morphology is ensured). - Stereo microscope Leica S9D (Stereomicroscope for preliminary examination of the surface morphology of biological objects at low magnifications (from 6 to 55 X) and obtaining a stereoscopic image, for making preparations for SEM). - Straight microscope Leica DM 2000M with drawing device (Optical microscope for studying biological objects in transmitted light through the methods of bright and dark fields, differential interference contrast, fluorescence with a base optical magnification from 50 X to 1000 X, preparation of micrographs and morphometry). On July 8, 2020, the ceremonial start of the electron microscope took place in the electron microscopy room with cutting the ribbon by the director of the institute, academician V.V. Rozhnov.