Animals of Ukraine: overview, features and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

According to scientists, the planet Earth is the only place in the universe where life exists. Since it has a large area, living creatures occupy their niches in nature. And, of course, they are looking for places where they will be most comfortable. Thus, Ukraine has a rich flora and fauna. Read the article about animals whose range covers the territory of this country.

Some numbers

Ukraine is a country where you can meet animals of 28 thousand species. More than six hundred species, or rather 690, are vertebrate creatures. These include mammals, whose number is measured by 100 species, birds (there are 350 species in Ukraine), reptiles (more than 20). Amphibians are only 19 species out of 28 thousand, fish are 90 marine and 110 freshwater species.

As for insects and protozoa, their group is the most numerous. The arachnid class is a fairly large group, which includes more than 3300 species. Other insects make up 20,000 species. Protozoa in Ukraineone and a half thousand, and worms - seven hundred species.

The most common animals in Ukraine

As mentioned earlier, the animals of Ukraine are a very large group. What species are most common in this country? So, there are many predators here. These include representatives of the wolf family, foxes, martens, lynxes. Other animals of Ukraine are artiodactyls. Their group is formed by elks and wild boars, roe deer and moufflons. This name is also used by wild sheep. Rodents that are common in this country are ground squirrels, jerboas, hamsters and field mice.

Animals of Ukraine are not only predators and artiodactyls. This country has a large number of fish, such as pikes, carps, perches, breams. And the birds common here are owls and partridges, gulls and black grouse. Thus, the fauna of Ukraine is very diverse, and representatives of many species of the animal world can be found in the country.

A large number of creatures dangerous to humans live on the territory of this state. Some of them are poisonous, while others are very small. These include vipers, tarantulas and karakurts, as well as skolopendra. Thus, not all animals of Ukraine are “cute” and “fluffy”. Describing them all can take a very long time, so it will not be presented in this article. However, it is important for people who are going to visit the forests and mountains of Ukraine to study all the dangers that may lie in wait for them.

Classification of animals by natural areas

Animals of Ukraine - enoughbig group. Their distribution depends on the natural zone in which they are distributed. So, what animals of Ukraine live in different places of this country?

• In Polissya, you can most often meet wild boars, pine martens, wolves, roe deer and foxes. Previously, even brown bears lived here, but now their range has shifted to the most remote areas. Beavers, otters and minks are valuable fur resources. These animals can also be found in Polissya. Dangerous snakes such as vipers are found in this natural area along with agile lizards and pond frogs.
• In the forest-steppe area - where forest and steppe animal species coexist. These include field mice, voles, dormice and roe deer, as well as ferrets, hamsters and mole rats.

• Rodents, such as jerboas and ground squirrels, are most often found in the steppes, as well as the primrose. Birds that typically inhabit the steppe zones are quite rare in the Ukrainian steppes. These include the bustard, the crane, the stone eagle, and the little bustard.
• In the Carpathians live and breed such representatives of the fauna as mountain polecat, snow vole. Lynx, hazel grouse, black grouse and capercaillie are found in the zone of mountain forests. Roe deer, martens, squirrels, wild boars, hawks, golden eagles and foxes - all these animals live in any area of the Carpathian Mountains. Even the rarest wild cat lives here.

Symbols of Ukraine

It is known that almost every state has its own symbols. Very often these are some animals or plants. In Russia, this is a bear, and in France, for example, a rooster. More oftenThe whole appearance of an animal symbol in any country is due to the fact that this creature is often mentioned in folk tales, fairy tales and legends.

Ukraine does not have an animal symbol. Even after the nationwide elections of the mascot animal, the inhabitants of the country did not come to a consensus. The fact is that, theoretically, a horse or a tour, a cuckoo or a crane, a stork or a nightingale, a swallow or a whist can be a symbol of this state.

All these animal symbols of Ukraine are found in the folklore of this country. However, wolves and bears, chickens and hares are mentioned with the same success in fairy tales and songs composed by Ukrainians. One state cannot have several animal symbols. At the same time, not all of the named representatives are generally recognized, and this is a prerequisite when choosing a country symbol.

The best option is the Rurik falcon. Since ancient times, it has been depicted on the coat of arms of the state in a schematic form. He is currently transformed into a trident.

Problems of the fauna of Ukraine

Currently, man is developing technologies, creating new devices and machines. Due to violent activity, people destroy the natural habitat of many animals, so their populations begin to decline, and species disappear. On the territory of Ukraine, a large number of representatives of the fauna are registered, which are listed in the Red Book.

History of the Red Book of Ukraine

Ukrainian Red Book is an official document. On its pages you can find materials about allanimals and plants that are on the verge of extinction, and are also very rare and almost never found in the wild. Working with this document, scientists are developing measures used to conserve populations of many organisms.

What is the history of the Red Book? Some plants and animals of Ukraine first came into it in 1980. Then the document was published in one volume. However, fourteen years later the Red Book appeared in two parts. One of them was dedicated to the animal world, and the other to the plant world. The circulation of both volumes was about seven and a half thousand copies.

The most recent edition, which went out of print in 2009, includes almost 550 species of animals, 542 to be exact, and 826 species of fungi and plants.

What animals are in the Red Book of Ukraine?

On the territory of Ukraine there is a huge number of animals that were listed in the Red Book. All of them are included in different categories. Each of them denotes a certain degree of danger. For example, disappearing animals are those animals that are about to disappear from the face of the Earth. The Restored were once on the brink of extinction, but are now on the mend.

Animals listed in the Red Book of Ukraine are rodents, predators, bats, such as common primrose, ermine and small evening. Their groups make up the bulk of the list. There are fewer species of artiodactyls and equids, insectivores and pinnipeds, whales andlagomorphs such as bison, hares and azov are at risk.

Animal record holders

There are a huge number of living organisms on the planet that are superior to others according to some data. For example, some run fast, while others jump high. Ukraine also has world-famous record holders.

The largest bison in this country. Its mass can reach a whole ton and even exceed it. By the way, the animals of Ukraine in terms of growth are also champions. And this is again a bison, because at the withers its height reaches two or even three meters. But the elk has the richest horns. Their span is one and a half meters. The red deer has a slightly smaller one - one meter.

The largest marine inhabitant is the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin. The body length of this animal reaches three meters. The small shrew is a tiny creature. Together with the tail, it can fit on a ruler six centimeters long. The scale, which reaches a maximum value of 10 grams, is enough to measure her body weight.

The fastest hare in Ukraine, which can run at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour. The long-liver is a beaver. The life expectancy of these animals in the wild is almost 50 years. Among domestic animals, donkeys live the longest.

The daily diet of a bottlenose dolphin includes 30 kilograms of meat, while a shrew needs only 10 grams of this product per day.