Game management and laboratories of game animal research in Ukraine for 100 years: historical transformations of ideas and institutions

The study is devoted to the history of game management laboratories as one of the most obscure pages of Ukrainian theriology. The prerequisites for the formation of such laboratories as a system of applied research related primarily to ‘useful’ fauna are considered. These laboratories form a continuous chain of research centres that have existed in different cities. They were founded in 1929 by V. Averin in Kharkiv, developed by A. Mygulin and his followers in Zavorychi (1936–1962), K. Kopein at the fur farm in Kolo-Mykhailivka near Vinnytsia (1963–1973), and M. Evtushevsky in Cherkasy (1973–2004). The final phase was completed by two academic game management laboratories: at the Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (in 1975–1989, led by V. Kryzhaniv¬skyi) and the Institute of Forestry of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences (in 1991–2022, in Oleshky, led by I. Sheihas). The stages of research development in a series of successive transformations, in the wake of socio-political events and changes in public demands are analysed. The distinct sequence and, in fact, continuity of their existence in time (despite their movement in space) indicates a corresponding demand for them from the state, including the support of state budgetary programmes. Their tasks were constantly changing, and each period had its own specifics. The first period (Kharkiv) was supposed to put the system of survey, monitoring, and rational use of game resources on a scientific basis, as well as to streamline and direct the work of hunting communities. The second phase (‘Zavorychi’) was focused on providing the state with the necessary amount of fur for the needs of international trade and (undoubtedly) the military. The third phase remains the most obscure and is most likely associated with the formation of elite hunting grounds. The fourth phase (Cherkasy) was characterised by increased attention to fur farming and a waning interest in hunting as such. The fifth phase (Kyiv and Oleshky) was characterised by a cooperation with the State Committee of Forestry, the Ukrainian Society of Hunters and Fishermen, and certain (elite) farms. It is shown that the origins of many well-known scientific schools in Ukraine are related to hunting practices and that game management laboratories became leaders in developing action plans to maintain populations of game animals.