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The Lena River Delta is one of the most important areas for Anatidae breeding in the East Asian Flyway. It is the largest delta in the North Asia (30.000 km²). Here there are 25 species of Anatidae, 15 of which nest. Not less than 200.000 ducks, 30.000 geese, 6.000 swans inhabit the Lena Delta in summer.

In 1985 the part of the delta (13.00 km²) was included in the State Nature Reserve "Ust-Lensky" of Russian Federation. In this territory any economic activity is forbidden. In 1996 the Government of Sakha Republic (Yakutia) included the rest-unprotected territory of the delta in the structure of Resource Reservation "Lena-Delta". In this territory only traditional economic activity of the indigenous is permitted. In 1995 with financing of the Government of Yakutia and WWF Sweden the International Biological Station "Lena-Nordenskiold" (IBS) has been build and inaugurated here.

Since 1994 in the Lena Delta the scientific staffs of Reserve and IBS carry out monitoring for conditions and success of bird breeding, including Anatidae. This is helped by various foreign expeditions, the members of which carry out their scientific programs. For these years the biologists and ornithologists from Belgium, England, Germany, Holland, France, Sweden, South-African Republic, Japan worked in the Lena Delta.

Black Brant and Bewick's Swan, breeding in the Lena Delta, present the special interest for study. Here a zone of overlapping of areas of European Branta bernicla bernicla and American B.b. nigricans subspecies of Black Brant is located. There are mixed colonies and, then, mixed pairs. These subspecies winter in Europe and at coasts of Mexico; their numbers increases and breading areas extend. Among American subspecies it is necessary marked an Asian population that winters in Japan, Korea and China, but breeds basically in the Lena Delta. Status of this population anxieties, as its numbers now is about 5.000. The ornithologists of Reserve and IBS have carried out the observation on conditions and efficiency of Black Brant breeding in 1999-2001 in the eastern part of the Lena Delta. But it is necessary the special research of processes occurring in a zone of joint breeding of these bird groups, as it is possible the absorption of Asian population by European and American populations and disappearance of Black Brant on winter grounds in the South-East Asia.

20 years ago there were only about 700 Bewick's Swans in the Lena Delta. By 1994 their numbers has increased up to 6.000 and continues to increase. It is suggested the hypothesis that it is connected with sharp decrease of reindeer numbers. Unfortunately, nowadays the ornithologists, working in the Lena Delta, cannot carry out the complete aerial count of swans because of its high cost. In 1999-2000 in collaboration with Dutch scientists and with support from the Dutch Government it was conducted swan marking with red neck rings. In 2001 the program on study of migratory ways and determination of breeding areas of Bewick's Swan wintering in Japan. The staff of Yonago Waterbirds Sanctuary together with IBS have continued the banding of swans in the Lena Delta. Only for three years 21 adult and 7 young birds were marked.

Anet Newsletter No.2, page 5-6 (November 2002)

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