Approx. 3,000 rare animal species live in Moscow’s protected areas — Sergei Sobyanin

The city will develop a project to rehab the Losiny Ostrov National Park, Moscow’s portion of the natural area to be potentially managed by the municipality, the related law has been signed by President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

Municipal providers will remove garbage on the site and create protected areas in addition to hot spots to visit; The park to preserve the favorable environment for animals and create comfortable conditions for visitors. Sergei Sobyanin wrote in his blog.

“Although it is not easy, it is quite a solvable problem. We have many parks and protected areas in Moscow, which we carefully put in order, while maintaining a comfortable habitat for animals and good recreational opportunities for Muscovites,” the Moscow Mayor shared.

Nowadays about 3,000 species of protected animals live in the natural habitats of the capital, including 573 listed in the Moscow Red List. A black kite, a European green woodpecker and a stock pigeon are said to have been seen this year in the Moskvoretsky Nature and History Park, though these birds have not shown in Moscow for years.

In Izmailovo, Kosinsky, Kuzminki-Lyublino and Moskvoretsky parks, as well as in the Tyoply Stan wildlife sanctuary, you can encounter brown hares; they also live in the Bitsevsky Les Nature and History Park, where one can also catch sight of ermines, middle spotted woodpeckers and goldeneye ducks.

In Moscow, someone has also noticed northern lapwings — they again build nests in the Zelenogradsky wildlife sanctuary, where one can also come across an Eurasian skylark, a common buzzard, a common teal, an Eurasian pygmy owl and other rare birds.

In the Yuzhnoye Butovo wildlife sanctuary and the Bitsevsky Les Nature and History Park, there was a glimpse of a carnivorous pine marten, while the Tsaritsyno and Tushinsky parks, as well as the Tyoply Stan wildlife sanctuary are now home to black woodpeckers, the largest woodpeckers in Moscow’s natural sites; in addition, several beaver families live in the Setun River’s Valley wildlife sanctuary.

“After rehabilitation, the Losiny Ostrov will also become a place where wildlife harmoniously coexists with a multimillion-resident metropolis,” Sergei Sobyanin wrote.