Pleistocene Park

Pleistocene Park is a nature reserve in Nizhnekolymsky District, Russia, where large grazing animals live on fenced grassland. The terrain rolls across tundra along the Kolyma River with small lakes and low birches between the open fields.

Sergey Zimov founded the area in 1996 as a scientific experiment to bring back ice age grasslands. His son Nikita later took over management and expanded the animal populations with species from other parts of Siberia and North America.

Researchers here work to bring back the animal life from the last ice age and watch how plant eaters change the land around them. The research station hosts biologists and climate experts who study how grasslands can slow down the thawing of frozen ground.

Access requires special permission through the association and a multi-day journey to the remote region near the Arctic coast. The best time to visit is during the short summer when rivers are open and animals graze on the open meadows.

Yakutian horses dig through snow with their hooves in winter and eat the grass beneath just as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. The animals also trample moss layers which lets more sunlight reach the ground and helps plant life renew faster.