Kamchatka, Russia Photograph by O. Kosterin   Palaearctic Boreal Forests/Taiga   56,500 square miles (146,400 square kilometers) -- about the size of Michigan Relatively Stable/Intact

· Big Bunch of Big Brown Bears
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Big Bunch of Big Brown Bears

The rulers of this remote ecoregion are not kings or presidents, but bears. The Kamchatka Peninsula supports the largest population of brown bears--estimated at 20,000--in the world. Other large, powerful species can be found here too.

Special Features

This ecoregion is nothing if not wet. Encompassing the waters and coast of the northern Kamchatka Peninsula, this ecoregion also contains small river systems, lagoons, and marshes. Coastal areas are usually covered with mixed forests of birch, larch, spruce, willow, and alder trees. But this area also includes dwarf forests, grasslands, forest bogs, and even tundra. The offshore Commander Islands also contain upland tundra meadows and small bushes. The islands are the above-water portion of an underwater mountain range that rises nearly 13,000 feet (4,000 m) higher than the surrounding ocean basins.

	The common murre doesn’t bother building a nest for its eggs, as most other birds do. The bird lays its egg on a cliff ledge with no cushioning twigs or feathers. If the egg starts to roll, its conical shape makes it turn in a tight circle instead of tumble over the edge.

Wild Side

In addition to brown bears, this ecoregion also harbors populations of wolves, moose, wolverines, and squirrels. The numerous rivers of the Kamchatka Peninsula are home to the most abundant and genetically diverse populations of salmon in the world. Sockeye, chum, pink, coho, Chinook, masu, and steelhead species can all be found here. The Kamchatka steelheads are the only truly wild population of steelhead remaining in the world. On the Commander Islands, life is also teeming. The islands contain several groups of Steller sea lions and northern fur seals. Nearly 60 species of birds breed here, including horned puffins, common murres, red-faced cormorants, and the red-legged kittiwakes. Karaginsky Island is particularly popular with harlequin ducks, which form some of the largest breeding colonies in the Russian Far East.

Cause for Concern

This area is still relatively intact, due to its isolation. But poaching and overfishing of salmon and steelhead are major threats to the continued survival of these populations and wildlife that depend on them as a food source, like brown bears. Mismanagement of fisheries, upon which many seabirds and marine mammals depend, is another concern. An increase in mining and gas drilling is also a potential threat.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.