WOLF HUNTING IN SIBERIA

In the Siberian state of Yakutia, the exploding number of wolves is impacting indigenous livelihoods. Meet Ion Maxsimovic, the region’s best Wolf Hunter.

 
Yegor Dyachkovsky, a wolf hunter from the Aldan district of the Sakha Republic, Siberia.
With wolf numbers increasing, an estimated that 12,000 reindeer were killed by attacks last year in Yakutia - also known as the Sakha Republic - at a cost of around 15,000 rubles per animal. Khatystyr, Sakha Republic, Russia.
A man races his reindeer at the annual Khatystyr reindeer festival. Evenki culture revolves around these animals. Their livelihood and cultural identity hinges on their herds. Khatystyr, Sakha Republic, Russia.
An Evenki man leads his herd through the forest. In eastern Siberia, wolves migrate from the taiga forests onto reindeer pastures, threatening livestock on a scale not seen since pre-Soviet times. Khatystyr, Sakha Republic, Russia.
A power plant in Yakutsk, Russia. With industry is on the rise, new railways and gas pipelines cut into reindeer habitats, reducing pastureland and thereby increasing pressure on herders and their families. Yakutsk, Sakha Republic, Russia.
Nikolai Smetanin, head of the Yakutsk hunting department, spearheaded the latest push to control wolf populations. Yakutsk, Sakha Republic, Russia.
Nikolai Smetanin travels out to meet Ion Maxsimovic, he will be dropping off ammunition, fuel and wolf traps.
The Russian state and local government have placed a bounty on wolves to curb numbers - equivalent to 400 USD per wolf - plus a cash prize to the hunter who kills the most. In 2013 that person was Ion Maxsimovic. Sakha Republic, Russia.
Ion Maxsimovic prepares kindling for the wood stove in his winter hunting lodge. Ion will get up numerous times in the night to keep the fire burning. Sakha Republic, Russia.
Ion Maxsimovic cuts logs outside his winter hunting camp. Aldan distritct, Yakutia, Siberia.
Ion Maxsimovic collects ice to melt for water in Yakutia, Siberia.
In Russia, Canada and the EU, hunting with these traps was banned in 2008. But as wolf numbers soared, hunters in Siberia began to reinstate them for lack of humane alternatives, Sakha Republic, Russia.
Ion Maxsimovic shoots dead a wolf caught in a trap that he set days before. Sakha Republic, Russia.
Ion Maxsimovic carefully hides his trap under the snow. Folklore warns; wolves that escape traps return to exact revenge on hunters. Stories of maimed wolves needlessly killing herds of reindeer haunt the Evenki people. Sakha Republic, Russia.
After killing the wolf Ion Maxsimovic removes the trap from its leg and prepares to load it onto his snowmobile. There have been cases of wolves chewing off their own legs to free themselves from such traps. Sakha Republic, Russia.
Ion Maxsimovic holds up the head of the wolf he has just shot dead. In winter an adult male will freeze solid within two hours of death. Sakha Republic, Russia.
The recently shot wolf is loaded onto a sledge by Ion Maxsimovic and his assistant Yegor Dyachkovsky. An adult male grey wolf averages 95–99 lb. Sakha Republic, Russia.
The dead wolf is thawed and then skinned by Ion Maxsimovic and Yegor Dyachkovsky. The pelt will be delivered to the Sakha Bult sorting facility in Yakutsk. Sakha Republic, Russia.
Ion Maxsimovic prepares the wolf skin for drying while the carcass hangs from a nearby tree. The pelt will be delivered to the Sakha Bult sorting facility in Yakutsk. Sakha Republic, Russia.
Yegor Dyachkovsky adds wood to the pile while Ion Maxsimovic douses it with petrol. Hunters are paid for every wolf skin they deliver, but the carcasses are burned. Sakha Republic, Russia.
Ion Maxsimovic and Yegor Dyachkovsky watch as the latest wolf carcass is burned. Hunters like Ion and Yegor are paid for every wolf pelt they deliver, but the bodies are destroyed. Yakutia, Siberia.
A man working at the Sakha Bult sorting facility. Sakha Bult is government owned and the first stop for the wolf skins delivered by hunters. Yakutsk, Siberia.
A man working at the government owned Sakha Bult sorting facility. The floor is flooded with blood. This is the first stop for wolf skins delivered by hunters. Yakutsk, Sakha Republic, Russia.
A wolf skin at the Sakha Bult sorting facility in Yakutsk. Suitable skins will be used for clothing and rugs. Yakutsk, Sakha Republic, Russia.
 
 

I’m in Nikolai Smetanin’s office, sweating in my thermal underwear. The immaculately turned out politician is talking me through a series of photographs of mangled reindeer carcasses. Outside, children are playing in an elaborate frozen playground; there’s a helter-skelter built from ice, lanes of glistening toboggan tracks and a banana boat being towed behind a snowmobile. Yakutsk is the coldest city on Earth with winter temperatures regularly the wrong side of -50°c. Understandably, there’s a paranoia to the way Siberian’s heat their homes and offices. It makes being inside unbearable.

Nikolai is the head of Yakutia’s government-run hunting department. With a landmass comparable to India, Yakutia is by far the largest non-nation state in the world. Life here, I’m quickly learning, revolves around reindeer, staying warm and diamonds. Mostly in that order. I first heard about the region in 2013 when its president, Yegor Borisov, announced a ‘state of emergency’, calling for international support and setting into motion a bounty system, which has since grown into the largest organised wolf hunt in history.

The problem, Nikolai explains, is that wolves are decimating reindeer herds. 12,000 reindeer were killed last year at a cost of 3 million euros to government caravans and indigenous cooperatives. The government can absorb these costs but across the Taiga, exploding wolf populations are pushing indigenous people into poverty and exacerbating the break down of communities. To see these effects first hand, Nikolai has arranged for me to visit Ion Maksimovic, the region’s most celebrated wolf hunter. Ion killed 23 wolves last year, more than any other hunter, winning 300,000 roubles and a snowmobile.

The next day we load Nikolai’s soviet-era van with fuel, ammunition and, controversially, illegal leg traps. In 2008, Russia, Canada and the EU signed an agreement banning the use of leg hold traps. Europe drafted the bill almost 20 years ago but it took Russia over a decade to sign it. The law came into effect in 2012 and, soon after, wolf populations went through the roof in Yakutia. So much so that Nikolai travelled to Brussels to petition a repeal of the law. A EU representative then flew out to Yakutia to witness first hand what was happening and decided to permit the use of traps as long as they were EU approved ‘humane traps’. According to Nikolai these were never delivered.

I can understand Nikolai’s frustration. As we leave the city of Yakutsk and concrete buildings give way to tundra, it’s difficult to imagine anywhere more culturally and geographically removed from Brussels. Our driver leans over to show me a video he shot on his phone. A reindeer is tied up and thrashing around, an Evenki herder sits astride it, carves a slit into its chest, plunges his hand in and pulls out its heart. He entered the video into a local competition but his entry was disqualified. He didn’t have a model release and the footage raised animal welfare concerns. I offer my condolences and try to forget what I have just seen.