Chukotka's Natural Heritage at a Glance
Rough-legged Hawk. for a living planet The Bering Sea Ecoregion CHUKOTKA’S Photo: Peter Grigorovich Chukotka, officially the Chukotsky NATURAL HERITAGE Autonomous Okrug, forms Russia’s north-eastern fron- AT A GLANCE tier. About half of the region’s 737,700 square kilometers lies above the Arctic Circle. The region’s landscape is domi- nated by alpine and arctic tundra, although small larch, pine, birch, poplar, and willow trees can grow in the valleys of larger rivers. More than 900 species of plants grow in Chukotka, The Bering Strait coast. including 400 Photo: Dennis Litovka species of moss and lichen. Polar bears, Thirty fresh- Wrangel Island. water fish species inhabit Chukotka’s inland lakes and streams. Photo: Gennady Smirnov There are 220 bird species in the region. The chilly waters washing the region’s shores provide important habitat for numerous marine mammals, while species such as brown bear, sable, lynx, ermine, mountain hare, and mink can be found in terrestrial habitats. Numerous rare and endangered species inhabit the Chukotsky Autonomous Okrug. Among those listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation are the polar bear, bighorn sheep, narwhal, hump- back whale, finback whale, grey whale, blue whale, razor back, Photo: Arne Nævra, www.naturbilder.no and 24 bird species. Walruses, Wrangel Island. Native hunting party. Siberian dwarf pine. Tumanskaya River. Photo: Gennady Smirnov Photo: Gennady Smirnov Photo: Gennady Smirnov Photo: Gennady Smirnov CHUKOTKA’S PROTECTED AREAS Legend WWF high priority conservation areas Monuments of nature 0 50 100 150 km Subadult white-tailed sea eagle. Lebediny Federal Zoological Wildlife Refuge he Lebediny Federal Zoological Wildlife Refuge, between the Main and Anadyr TRivers, protects almost 400,000 hectares of wetland habitats, as well as the animal species inhabiting them.
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