Studying the diet of wild reindeer (forest subspecies) (Rangifer Tarandus L.) in the territory of the Middle Yenisei taiga

Abstract

Despite the big number of studies dedicated to the nutrition of the wild tundra reindeer, there are hardly any data found in Russian or foreign literature on the nutrition of the forest subspecies of the wild reindeer in the Middle Yenisei taiga. The studies carried out in the zone of overlapping winter habitats of the forest and tundra reindeer are of special interest. Since the research covered the territory of a special protected natural area, it was decided to use the non-invasive method of coprological cuticular analysis. As a result of the compositional analysis of the March reindeer faeces, some fragments of the flowering plants, lichens and mosses were found in the collected samples. As a result, it was found that in March and April the main fodder of the reindeer residing in the territory of the Middle Siberia were the flowering plants of the Cyperaceae, Poaceae, and Equisetum families.