Animals in the Arctic Desert Zone: photo and description

The zone of arctic deserts is located on the very north of the continents of Eurasia and North America. The climate and conditions for life here are very severe, there is no seasonal change as such. There is a polar night, during which the temperature keeps within 30-40 degrees of frost. During the day in this region, the air warms up to -10, sometimes to -3 degrees. That is why the animals in the Arctic deserts are fundamentally different from those living in our continental latitudes. They are more adapted to surviving in harsh conditions. What, what they are, what are characteristic and how popularized, read below.

Feathered permanent inhabitants of the Arctic

In its majority, the animal world of arctic deserts is represented in the form of birds. Feathered fauna here is represented by 124 different species of sky dwellers, 55 of whom consider the Arctic their home and nest there. Among such sedentary northern birds, one can distinguish a pink gull, Siberian eider, and murr. By the way, representatives of the latter species prefer to nest on the heights of various rocks that are covered with glaciers. However, they do not experience discomfort. Also the bird fauna of the arctic deserts is represented in the form of burgomasters, white gulls, polar terns, chistinki, lyurikov, etc. The queen among the permanent inhabitants of the northern skies is the polar owl.

Unstable residents of the Arctic sky

When the day comes in the north of our planet and the air temperature rises, birds come from the tundra, taiga and continental latitudes. Therefore, from the beginning of the first warm days on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, you can meet black geese, white geese, tulips, tulezov, borokrylyh rzhanok, white-tailed sandpipers. Flocks of the following birds fly here: a sparrow-sparrow, a red-head, Dunlin, a buzzard buzzard and many others. With the onset of cold weather, all the above-mentioned flocks return to more southerly latitudes. But this does not mean that the animal world of the arctic deserts becomes more scarce. Birds fly over this region constantly, and, perhaps, it is thanks to birds that these lands still give even the slightest signs of life.

General description of mammals

Animals in the arctic desert areas that inhabit the earth or lead a semi-aquatic life are only 16 species. 4 of them are representatives of marine fauna, but they are not fish, but still mammals. Most of them are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. For this reason, hunting in the arctic deserts is strictly prohibited, and every individual who here is a representative of the fauna is carefully protected by the government. So, now we will get to know each inhabitant of these latitudes more closely and find out what characteristics they have.

Inhabitants of icy depths

First, let's look at the animals of the Arctic deserts that live in cold waters. Photos of many of them we often met on the pages of Soviet textbooks or just saw them on TV. The most interesting inhabitant of the region is the Narvall. A huge fish that reaches a length of 5 meters and weighs more than one and a half tons. A characteristic feature is a long horn that protrudes from the mouth. It's like an animal's tooth, but it does not fulfill its own functions. Narwhals are the only animals of their kind and have no analogues. The closest relative of this species is the bowhead whale. He is much more massive than a narwhal, but does not have such a huge tooth. It feeds on plankton and swims far enough into the sea. The next marine mammal of the northern edges is the beluga or polar dolphin. Inhabits the great depths of the ocean and feeds exclusively on fish. Completing our list is the most dangerous northern underwater predator - killer whale. Apart from the fact that it devours smaller inhabitants of the northern waters and their shores, it is also dangerous for belugas and seals.

Seals and walruses

The most popular animals in the arctic desert zone are seals. They are a separate population, but they have many subspecies. A characteristic feature of all seals are fins, which replace divergent hind legs. They end in claws, which allow mammals to move easily over snowy terrain. Among the brightest species of seals, we can distinguish the harp, sea hare (the largest and most dangerous of all species), seal and seal. The latter species is characterized by the smallest size, and at the same time all its representatives are very mobile. But the closest relative of the seal - a walrus, in combination is its danger. Walruses are much larger in size, they have sharp fangs, with which they penetrate the ice and extract food from the sea. They also need this tool for land hunting. They eat small animals, including seals.

Bears and wolves

The brightest animals in the Arctic deserts are polar bears. They have exceptionally white color and dense wool, which allows them to experience the terrible cold both on land and under water, which is simply icy. In addition to the fact that the bear is the king of the Arctic, he is also the most dangerous predator. Eats terrestrial animals and mammals, which are smaller in size. It is also dangerous for fish and animals that live in the sea. Not so dangerous, but no less ferocious in the North are the polar wolves. They are very beautiful, have a white or brown color and live in flocks of up to 9 individuals. Their prey is arctic foxes, deer, sometimes small seals, as well as all other terrestrial animals, which are smaller in size.

The Red Book of the Russian Federation

Animals of the arctic desert zone listed in the Red Book are practically all the species that were named above. But in order to have a more concrete concept of which inhabitants of the northern latitudes need to be guarded with special attention, we will list them once more. In the red book there is a polar bear, a polar wolf, a walrus, a seal, an arctic fox. From mammals that live in the aquatic environment, narwhals, killer whales, come into the Red Book, and for some time also beluga. In addition, the pages of this book include many species of birds. They are pink and white gulls, peregrine falcon, crane-billed goose, small swan and others.

Afterword

Above, almost all animals of the arctic deserts were listed. In Russia, all these species have been inhabited since the onset of the climate on the planet, and the picture is similar in the northern regions of Alaska, as well as in Greenland. The fauna of this snow world is very unique, it does not look like the other, and most importantly, it dies out. Therefore, the governments of all countries to which these animals are related, carefully protects them. They can not be hunted, exterminated and inflicted in every possible way.