Analysis of the number of red deer in the Saratov region

The number of red deer (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) in the Saratov region in the 60-70s of the last century totaled several dozen individuals, in 2023 the number amounted to more than 1.7 thousand individuals. The area of ? ? land suitable for living red deer is 990.1 thousand ha. Of these, 81.5% belongs to the right-bank territories of the region (the predominant class of bonity is 3), 18.5% on the left-bank (the predominant class of bonity is 4). The dynamics of the number of red deer has a positive trend; over the past decade, the number has grown by 11.8%. During the analysis, it was found that the resources of red deer in the Saratov region are significantly lower than the environmentally possible level. The spatial structure of red deer in the Saratov region due to geographical features is heterogeneous. Areas with a relatively high number of the red deer are located in the right-bank part of the region. The population density of red deer in the right-bank territories of the region is 1.83 individuals per thousand hectares of suitable land, in the left-bank - 0.35 individuals per thousand hectares. The ratio of actual and estimated optimal abundance was 14.5%. In only one administrative region, the actual number is close to optimal (ratio - 97.3%), which is 6.3% of the total area suitable for red deer. The conditional "deficit" in the optimal number was 9054 individuals. First of all, the formation of stable territorial groupings of red deer should be carried out in those areas of the region where the unrealized potential of hunting grounds for this species is high.