The fact that the Russian desman (Desmana moschata L.) inhabits the Sozh basin has been confirmed by scientists.

Leading researcher Irina Krischchuk, together with Russian colleagues from the Oka State Natural Biosphere Reserve, discovered traces of this animal during field work in the floodplain water bodies of the Sozh River within Mogilev Oblast and Gomel Oblast.

«In the surveyed water bodies, we’ve seen traces of the species’ activity for the first time in the last 40 years: burrows and feeding tables with remnants of freshwater mollusk shells,» the center reported.

Analyzing the diversity of shelter types in combination with a stable food supply, specialists are inclined to believe that small local populations of this species may be preserved in the surveyed floodplain water bodies of the Sozh River.

The small semi-aquatic mammal gradually began to disappear from Belarusian fauna in the second half of the last century. The main factor behind this trend was anthropogenic, as well as natural processes in nature. The last scientifically recorded sightings of the desman in the wild date back to the 1960s. According to specialists, in 1993 the desman was removed from the country’s Red Book as an extinct species.