Baikal, wildlife. Lake Baikal, Russia

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Baikal, together with its surroundings, is a very beautiful place, the amazing landscapes and wonders of which can be told for a very long time. This is a region with a very picturesque nature: fabulous landscapes, bizarre capes, magnificent cliffs, as well as other beauties found here at every step.

The fauna of Lake Baikal is extremely diverse, since nature here has been preserved almost in its original form, and the indigenous population lives in a traditional way. Thanks to this, this place attracts ecotourists from all over the world every year.

Animal world of Lake Baikal

A huge number of animals live here, some of which can only be found in this place. For example, seals - a cute animal that has long become a symbol of this lake. Or golomyanka fish - completely transparent! In Lake Baikal, the animal world is represented by a huge number of different fish, seals, etc. Squirrels, sables, deer, wild boars, and foxes live on the shore, which are very common for tourists. Wolves, bears and lynxesstay away from tourist trails. Birds sing here all day long. And speaking of fish, sturgeon, grayling, whitefish and omul are typical inhabitants of the local waters.

Baikal seal

Here, the only representative of mammals is the Baikal seal (or seal). And if we consider the problems of Baikal, then it can be noted that this animal is on the verge of extinction.

There are several hypotheses about how the seal ended up here. There is a version that it came here from the Arctic Ocean during the Ice Age along rivers dammed with ice.

This amazing animal has been in the water almost all its life, surfacing every 20 minutes for a portion of fresh air. In winter, he breathes through special vents - small vents that he creates by raking the ice from below with the claws of his front paws. The seal winters in lairs, arranging them in the hummocky parts of the lake under the snow. Around the lair, there are more than 10 different auxiliary products. They can be tens of meters away from the main one. The ability to make puffs has been proven to be an innate instinct.

The main food of seals is golomyanko-goby fish. She eats 3-5 kg of fresh fish per day. An adult seal eats up to a ton of fish a year.

At about 4 years old, the female becomes sexually mature. Males also reach sexual maturity 1-2 years later. The seal's pregnancy lasts 11 months. Until the age of forty, she is able to bear offspring.

Puppies are born in February-April. They appear in the snowlair, on the ice, feed on mother's milk. Basically, the seal gives birth to 1, sometimes two babies, whose weight is up to 4 kilograms. The cubs have white fur, which allows them to remain almost invisible in the snow.

The average weight of the seal is 50 kg, the maximum weight is 150 kg. The speed of a swimming animal is up to 20 kilometers per hour.

Big golomyanka

There are 2 types of golomyankas living in Baikal - small and large. These 2 species are found at considerable depths. They keep during the day at a depth of up to 500 m, rising to 50 m at night. Since the water of Lake Baikal is very clean, you can see these beautiful pink fish, shimmering with all shades of the rainbow, about 20 centimeters in size. The body of the golomyanka is translucent due to the huge fat content (about 45%).

She is a viviparous fish. At the same time, in a large individual, the birth of larvae occurs in autumn, while in a small one already in June. The large golomyanka has about 4000 larvae, the small golomyanka has 2500.

Fish live up to 5 years. They eat young fish and crustaceans.

Baikal omul

Omul is the main commercial fish. The clean water of Lake Baikal allows four races of omul to live in it: Chivirkuy, Selenga, North Baikal, embassy.

In autumn, during the spawning period, all races go to their own river. Spawning in the rivers begins when the water temperature equalizes in August-September. In October, spawning takes place at a water temperature of no more than 5 ° C. Spawn development lasts 8months, and the migration of young larvae ends by the end of May. Young omul, having got to the estuarine areas, in the lower reaches of the rivers, in the sors, bays, lingers here for 1.5 months, since in May-June these areas are characterized by the best water warming.

Juveniles in the warm shallow water zone intensively feed on small chironomid larvae, plankton, etc. The larvae become fry, and as soon as the waters of the coastal areas of the lake warm up to 11˚С or more, the omul fry disperse gradually over Lake Baikal, whose wildlife so rich and varied.

Omul becomes an adult in the 5th year of its life.

The sizes of fish of different races are different. The largest is the Selenga race. In summer catches, the average body weight reaches 404 grams with a body length of 35 centimeters. The smallest size is the North Baikal race, in which the average weight in summer catches reaches 255 grams.

Maximum fish weight is 5 kilograms.

Baikal sturgeon

The fauna of Baikal is very rich. Briefly speaking about it, we should also talk about the Baikal sturgeon. It constantly lives here and is connected with the rivers mainly during the breeding season, which occurs in V. Angara, Barguzin and Selenga. Although he can live in rivers all the time, especially in the first 3 years. Juveniles subsequently slide into the lake. Within its limits, the sturgeon is distributed over a vast area. He mastered the shallow zone up to 200 m. During the spawning period, fish migrate along the rivers almost 100 km from the mouth.

Baikal sturgeon growscomparatively long. Males reach sexual maturity at 15 years old, while females are only 20 years old.

Once upon a time, fish were caught, whose body weight reached 200 kilograms; at the moment, a representative weighing up to 90 kg is rarely found. In females, the average body weight is 22.5 kilograms with a length of 160 centimeters, in males about 13.5 kilograms with a length of about 130 centimeters. The average fecundity of fish is 420,000 eggs.

The composition of fish food is diverse, which is determined by the richness of Lake Baikal. The animal world that attracts sturgeons is worms, molluscs, stonefly larvae, chironomids, amphipods, sculpins, occasionally juveniles of cyprinids and perch.

Black Baikal grayling

Endemic variety of Siberian grayling. The fish is distributed throughout Lake Baikal (Russia), especially near the mouth of the rivers, where it breeds. Lives at shallow depths (up to 15 m) near the coast, where there are rocky soils.

In warm periods it migrates to the largest tributaries of Baikal. At this time, males acquire a colorful, bright outfit. The black grayling spawns in May. After that, the fish slides into the lake, and grayling fry and larvae stay there for a long time. By autumn, they also roll into Baikal and the beds of large rivers.

Black grayling reaches puberty at four years of age.

Food: caddis larvae, chironomids, gammarids, mayflies and insects.

Average dimensions - 250 mm with a body weight of 300 grams. Maximumthe length of the black grayling is 530 mm and weighs 1.2 kg.

White Baikal grayling

The endemic species of Siberian grayling differs from black in lighter colors and some biological features.

It lives throughout the lake, while tending to spaces in the mouths of large tributaries, mainly the northeastern and eastern parts of the lake.

White looks bigger than black. Its maximum weight is about 2 kg or more with a body length of about 600 mm. The average size of the fish is 300 mm and weighs 500 g.

A fish becomes sexually mature at the age of seven. At the same time, the average fecundity of the white species is 5 times greater than the black one.

Spawning occurs in May when the water temperature is 14˚C. At this time, eggs are laid on sandy coastal shallows at a depth of about 50 cm.

The rich fauna of Baikal serves as food: larvae of stoneflies, caddisflies, chironomids, mayflies, dragonflies.

Moose Moose

Moose is the largest animal in the Baikal region. Its average weight is 400 kilograms, individual males weigh 0.5 tons. The body length reaches 3 meters with a height at the withers of about 2.3 m. horns. The most powerful horns appear in males of 15 years. In January, the horns fall off, the growth of new ones begins in March.

The rut happens at the end of September. In May, the fauna of Baikal is enriched -females are born calves.

Moose are kept in groups of 4-6 individuals or singly.

In winter, they feed on bark and shoots of trees, in summer - a variety of herbs.

Musk deer

Musk deer is the smallest deer that lives on the shores of Lake Baikal. The fauna of these places is very diverse. Musk deer is of particular interest to many. The body length is 1 meter with a weight of about 17 kilograms. The hind legs are much longer than the front. There are no horns, although the males have curved, long fangs.

Lives in the taiga, feeds on terrestrial and tree lichens.

The rut occurs in November, the pregnancy lasts about 190 days. One, sometimes two cubs are born.

Assessing the problems of Baikal, one should also note the rapid disappearance of this species. This is mainly due to the fact that it is actively hunted. This is due to the musk gland located in males on the abdomen. Musk is a gelatinous, thick substance with a very strong odor that is used in perfumery and medicine.