Flora and Fauna

Extremity of the climate and climate conditions diversity determine peculiar forms of flora and fauna of Chukotka. At first glance vegetation is very poor here. For north, north-east and east parts of the Okrug mountain and Arctic tundra landscape is typical with its small, flat bushes, weeds, moss and lichen. More often one may see the tundra with its "unpretentious" alders and cedar elfin wood, sedge and cotton-grass, blue and red bilberry. In the continental part of the Okrug, in river valleys, coniferous forests comprised of cachectic Daur larches and dwarf birch trees, and even more seldom—relic poplar forests can be found.
Meanwhile it only seems that vegetation here is scarce for more than 900 types of higher plants and more than 400 types of moss and lichen can be found in the Chukotsky Okrug.
Vrangel island (the northernmost part of Chukotka) flora, unique for all Arctic territories of the planet, accounts for 385 different types of plants, which is more than in any other Arctic island of a similar size.
The Chukotka Autonomous Okrugis is situated in several native zones, that is why its vegetation is so diverse. There are the Arctic desert zone (which includes the islands of Vrangel and Gerald as well as a narrow strip of land along the coastal line of the Arctic ocean), the zone of typical and hypoarctic tundra and forest-tundra (Western Chukotka, the Chukotka Peninsula, Nizhneanadyrsky Lowland, southern part of the Anadyr river basin and the Bering District) as well as the larch taiga zone (the Anuy and the Omolon basins). Chukotka’s fauna is also very diverse. It belongs to the typical "Arctic complex" with its center in Alaska and is rather unique for the Russian North because many species can be found only there and do not spread further to the West of Chukotka.
The Bering Sea accounts for 402 species of fish, among them 50 species and 14 classes are food fish. Other objects of fishery are 4 species of crab, 4 species of shrimp, 2 species of cephalopod shellfish. About 30 species of freshwater fish live in inland reservoirs of the Okrug, and the fishing industry is mainly focused on salmons, loachs, lake herrings, graylings, smelts, pikes, whitefish and burbots. Numerous species of birds also live in Chukotka: tundra partridge, ducks, geese, swans; and diving-pigeons, eider-ducks and sea-gulls on the coast form up bird colonies. Altogether there are about 220 spieces of birds.
The brown bear, the reindeer, the snow ram, the sable, the lynx, the wolf, the glutton, the ermine, the chipmunk, the lepus, the fox, the musk-rat, the mink and some other animals live in Chukotka.
The seas are rich in sea-animals: walrus, seals and whale.
There are also many insects like mosquitoes, midges and gadflies.
The white bear and the snow ram, sea mammals like the sea-unicorn, humpback, fin back, grey blue whale, razor-back, and 24 species of birds are registered in The Red Book of the Russian Federation (Endangered Animals List).
The Chukotka Okrug has several nature reserves: Vrangel Island Reserve, Beringia Nature and Ethnic Park, Lebedinyi State Zoological Reserve of republican significance and the following State nature reserves of local significance—"Avtotkuul", "Tumanskiy", "Tundroviy", "Ust-Tanyurerskiy", "Chaunsk Bay", "Teyukuul" and "Omolonskiy". Moreover, there are also 20 parks and reserves of regional significance on the territory of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.