Causes of the Decrease in the Number of Ermine (Mustela Erminea L., 1758) and Pelt Procurement in Yakutia

Abstract

During the last four decades, a decrease in ermine pelt procurement has been noted in Yakutia. To determine the possible reasons for this, material on the ecology of ermine and sables in Northeast Yakutia was collected from 1980–1994. The study examined 2890 sable stomachs for feed, and 1167 ermine skulls for Skrjabingylus infection. It was revealed that ermine are hunted by sables, but their proportion of the diet is low (0.4–3.4%). It was found that sables displaced ermine from the taiga biocenosis. The most acute effects of this process occurred during the sable settlement in October–November and are exacerbated by small numbers of rodents and crop failure in the main taiga feed. The overall intensity of infestation with the Skrjabingylus nasicola nematode was 19%, suggesting that this parasite is unlikely to have significantly affected the number of ermine