Have you seen a monk seal off the coast of Crimea for a long time? KFU told which animals are on the verge of extinction

CrimeaPRESS reports:

Of the 33 mammals listed in the Red Book of Crimea, six are included in the group of “probably extinct or endangered”. Among them are three species of bats, jerboa or ground squirrel, steppe polecat and monk seal.

We pay special attention to those species that are included in the group of species «probably extinct or endangered». All of these species are extremely rare. For example, the monk seal has not been recorded off the coast of Crimea since the 20s of the last century. Most likely, this species is no longer present on the entire coast of the Black Sea , — the press service of the university quotes the professor of the Department of Ecology and Zoology of the Institute of Biochemical Technologies, Ecology and Pharmacy of the Crimean Federal University Sergey Ivanov.

According to him, it is not easy to restore these species. Characteristic in this respect is the history of the bat.

This species lived in a colony of many thousands in one of the deep grottoes in Karadag, and had one more colony in the Kizil-Koba cave, but was exterminated in the 50 years. Its habitat is now a natural reserve, but even under these conditions, the restoration of the species, unfortunately, is not observed , — the scientist notes.

Nevertheless, it is the reserves that are the territories where the restoration of endangered species can be expected. Thus, the deserted beaches and caves in the coastal cliffs of the Opuk Reserve created all the conditions for the reacclimatization of the monk seal, which was supposedly seen there in the 2011 year, but experts do not have confirmation that it was the Red Book seal. .

The Red Book of the Republic of Crimea gives an idea of ​​the presence of rare and endangered animal species in Crimea. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Crimea has initiated work on the preparation of a new edition, the release of which is scheduled for 2026 year.