title

Ungulates in the Zalissia National Nature Park: stations of existence and seasonal changes in behaviour

author(s)

Vitaliy Smagol (orcid: 0000-0001-5277-2422) [1]
Vasyl Novytskyi (orcid: 0000-0003-2599-5510) [2]
Kostiantyn Maievskyi (orcid: 0000-0002-3093-8396) [3]
Oleksandr Salganskiy (orcid: 0000-0002-7063-1807) [3]
Roman Hurzhii (orcid: 0000-0002-2354-4348) [3]

affiliation

[1] I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine);
[2] All-Ukrainian Association of Hunters and Users of Hunting Grounds (Kyiv, Ukraine);
[3] National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine)

bibliography

Theriologia Ukrainica. 2026. Vol. 31: 32–41.

DOI

language

English, with Ukrainian summary, titles of tables, captures to figs

abstract

The distribution and seasonal behavioural changes of ungulates in the Zalissia National Nature Park were investigated. In 2025, the two most numerous species were the red deer (932 individuals) and the sika deer (782 individuals); the populations of fallow deer (212 individuals) and European roe deer (187 individuals) were significantly smaller, while the Eurasian elk (30 individuals) and European bison (14 individuals) groups remained in a depressed state. The localisation of specific ungulate species within the park is linked to species-specific requirements for the foraging and protective properties of the habitats. The study of animal habitats was based on forestry methods, in particular on parameters of the forest site type—trophotope (soil fertility tiers), hygrotope (soil moisture regimes)—and on the dominant tree species, stand age group, understorey density, and ground cover density. The distribution of red deer covers the central, southern, and north-eastern parts of the Park, dominated by mature and maturing pine stands with a sparse lower layer of forest vegetation but decent grass cover; the site conditions type is fresh, fairly fertile pine–oak site (B2). The sika deer occupies the north-western part of the Park, which is dominated by black alder swamp forests with dense undergrowth and rich herbaceous cover; the site conditions type is wet fertile oak–hornbeam site (C4). The Eurasian elk occurs sporadically in small patches of deciduous forest or in dense deciduous undergrowth beneath a pine canopy in the north-east and south-east of the Park; the site condition type is fresh, fairly fertile pine–oak site (B2). The distribution of roe deer and fallow deer is confined to the poorest habitats—dry infertile pine site (A2), dominated by pine-green moss-lichen associations with minimal development of undergrowth and ground cover. The specified lands are widespread on the periphery of the park, where roe deer occur, as well as in the centre of the estate, where fallow deer are localised. The European bison herd is primarily located in the north-eastern part of the Park, inhabiting mature pine stands with developed undergrowth; the forest site type is wet infertile pine site (B3).

keywords

ungulates, forest plantations, behaviour, biotope, season, Zalissia National Park

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