On July 30 - August 2, the Khakassky State Nature Reserve will host a national convention-seminar on rare and vanishing species of large mammals: research and conservation strategy.

The convention-seminar is organised by the Russian Geographical Society, the Government of the Republic of Khakassia, the Khakassky Reserve, the “Pristine Country” National Foundation and the Sayano-Shushensky Nature Biosphere Reserve.

Participants in the seminar will discuss the integration of research projects, and will exchange experience on the study and conservation of rare and vanishing species of large mammals. The convention will be in the form of a field training session/seminar on Lake Itkul in the Shira District of the Republic of Khakassia.

The following workshops will be organised:

• History of the study of rare animal species and modern animal study methods, including pressure-activated photo cameras, immobilisation, satellite tracking, molecular-genetic profiling methods, etc.;
• The state of animal populations and issues of preserving feline species, including the Amur (Far Eastern) leopard, the snow leopard, the Pallas’ cat, the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern cat;
• The state of animal populations and issues of preserving rare hoofed animal species, including the Siberian ibex, the bighorn sheep, the forest subspecies of the reindeer, the dzeren (Chinese yellow antelope), etc.;
• The current state and issues of studying and preserving wildlife polar bear populations.

Furthermore, convention-seminar participants will take part in training sessions and will master up-to-date research methods, along with methods for the indoor processing of data in field and laboratory conditions. For instance, the event’s organisers plan to hold training sessions on modern methods for catching and immobilising animals, the use of photo-registering systems for animal studies, molecular-genetic profiling methods, satellite-tracking methods, geographic information systems making it possible to process materials, as well as the use of information technologies for analysing and processing practical research materials.