A group of 15 European hamsters has been released on the Tarutino Steppe in the Danube Delta restoration landscape in Ukraine. This is the second release of a reintroduction programme overseen by the Rewilding Ukraine team, in collaboration with Kyiv Zoo and the Tarutino Steppe Nature and Ethnographic Park, with a family of three already released late last year. The burgeoning presence of the diminutive rodents, which were once widespread across Ukraine, will contribute to the creation of a wilder and ecologically healthier steppe landscape, helping to restore local food webs and enhance biodiversity, as well as boosting nature-based tourism.
The comeback of wildlife can help restore ecosystem functioning by reviving the interactions between the species and their habitats. Healthy ecosystems, in turn, deliver a wide range of benefits including providing us with water, storing carbon, boosting the local economy, and preventing fires and floods.
The released hamsters will initially be kept in an enclosure, allowing them to acclimatise themselves and form a colony in complete safety. Photo: Maxim Yakolev / Rewilding Europe.
Compared to hamsters kept as pets, wild hamsters are quite large – they can reach up to 30 cm in length and weigh more than 500 g. They spend 95% of their time underground in burrows, venturing out only at dawn and nightfall to feed mostly on plants. On the Tarutino Steppe they will help to disperse seeds, while their burrows will create habitats for many other wildlife species and improve soil fertility. The animals themselves are important prey for a range of birds and mammals. They will also help to attract tourists and support development of the area’s developing nature-based economy.
“The primary importance of burrowing animals, primarily rodents, on the Tarutino Steppe, lies in the transformation of the soil and vegetation cover,” explains Oleg Dyakov, a rewilding officer at the Rewilding Ukraine. “They improve the composition, aeration and water permeability of the soil and affect vegetation by eating various types of plants. Rodents such as hamsters also serve as the main food body for almost all steppe predators.”
With its expansive grassy plains, the Tarutino Steppe is one of the very few remaining areas of steppe in Europe and is home to many endangered species. Photo: Maxim Yakolev / Rewilding Europe.
The European hamster once inhabited steppes and forest-steppes across Europe, and was resident in most of Ukraine. But today it has almost disappeared in nature as a result of habitat destruction, environmental pollution, and targeted extermination as an agricultural pest. In 2009 it was listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. On the Tarutino Steppe the rodents will benefit from environmental protection and an increasingly wild landscape.
“Kyiv Zoo has been breeding and returning European hamsters to the wild for a few years as part of a programme to restore populations of rare and endangered species across Ukraine,” says Mykhailo Rusin, a specialist at the Center of restoration and reintroduction of the Kyiv Zoo. “Today we came to Tarutino Steppe and brought 15 hamsters to continue our efforts together with Rewilding Ukraine to return this species to the region. ”
The return of the European hamster, which was once common across much of Europe, will have wide-ranging benefits on the Tarutino Steppe. Maxim Yakovlev / Rewilding Europe.
The released hamsters will initially be kept in an enclosure of 600 square metres, allowing them to acclimatise themselves and form a colony in complete safety. Once this happens the enclosure will be removed. The hamster reintroduction programme will continue, with more releases planned for next year – the eventual aim is to establish colonies in a few places across the Tarutino Steppe. Although it is difficult to monitor them, the hamsters released last year are thought to be doing well.
“We created a good adaptation enclosure to temporarily house the rodents,” explains Oleksiy Pudovkin, a field officer at the Rewilding Ukraine. “Key structural element of the enclosure is the wall that extend underground. This allows to keep the animals inside and prevents predators from digging into the enclosure from the outside. To protect the hamsters from predatory birds the entire enclosure is covered with a dense net”.
European hamsters are the latest in a line of native herbivorous animals returned to the Tarutino Steppe by the Rewilding Ukraine team, with kulan (Asiatic ass), European fallow deer and steppe marmot populations all doing well. The combined impact of all of these species will improve the health and resilience of the steppe landscape.
This article was originally posted on the Rewilding Danube Delta website. To find out more about Danube Delta restoration landscape, visit the project page.
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