The arrival of 20 more kulan on the Tarutino Steppe is part of a long-term reintroduction programme. The animals will fill an important ecological niche and enhance biodiversity.

About a thousand years ago, large, wild herbivores started to disappear from Europe. Hunting, poaching and loss of biotope led to their decline. And with the vanishing of those large animals, their behaviour and its influence on the environment stopped too. Not only their grazing behaviour and its effect on vegetation but also the wallowing, rooting and digging. As for the last one, wild bulls used to dig pits in the rutting season to impress the opponents and the cows. As it appears now, these pits were hotspots for pioneer plants and insects.

3 red deers and 3 fallow deers settled on the Ermakiv island in the Danube Biosphere Reserve as part of the partnership between Rewilding Ukraine and Feldman Ecopark. Animals will complement the natural grazing on the island and promote eco-tourism in the region.

At the beginning of November, the work on restoring the connection of the Staronekrasovsky floodplains in Ukraine with the Danube River was completed. For the first time in many years, the Hromadsky canal has become flowing again, which will bring Staronekrasovsky floodplains back to life. The work, carried out by the Izmail Department of Water Management, Rewilding Ukraine and the Center for Regional Studies, is the first step towards restoring the Lung, Safyany and Katlabuh lakes.

A group of steppe marmots, translocated to the Tarutino Steppe in 2020, are acclimatising well to their new home. Their release into the wild, which is part of a long-term reintroduction programme, is helping to create a more ecologically complex steppe environment.

On September 25, the unique Tarutino steppe hosted the ethno-eco festival “Tarutino steppe” organized by Rewilding Ukraine and its partners Borodino Territorial Community and the Center for Ethnographic, Rural Tourism and Family Recreation “Frumushika-Nova”. The guests of the festival ate deliciously, had fun and got acquainted with the culture and nature of the region.

Two batches of three young eagle owls have just been released in the Danube Delta rewilding area in Ukraine. Their reintroduction, which is part of a long-term programme to establish a viable population, will enhance local food webs.

On September 25, the ethno-eco festival “Tarutino steppe” will take place in the Tarutyn steppe in the Odesa region, where you will be swirled by the whirlpool of national rites, authentic songs, and dances of the peoples of Bessarabia. The highlight of the festival will be the eco-zone and eco-activities, which will reveal to you the nature of the unique Tarutyn steppe in all its beauty.

Both Rewilding Europe and the rewilding movement have come a long way since 2011. With Rewilding Europe’s tenth anniversary celebrations kicking off on June 29, now is the time to reflect on progress and look to the future.

In early June, two artificial breeding platforms for Dalmatian pelicans were installed in the Danube Biosphere Reserve in Ukraine as part of the “Pelican Way of LIFE” project.