Biota and Environment of Natural Areas

Oriental stork Ciconia boyciana Swinhoe, 1873 in the Khankaisky Nature Reserve

Tiunov I.M. 1 , Vashchenko V.D. 2
1 Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia
2 Khankaisky Nature Reserve, Spassk-Dalniy, Russia

Year: 2026, Number: 1, Pages: 46-55

This paper presents current data on the abundance and distribution of the Oriental stork in the Khankaisky Nature Reserve. For the Rechnoy, Zhuravliny, and Chertovo boloto areas, information is provided spanning the reserve’s entire history, based on the nature chronicles and our own data. The number of nesting pairs in 2025 reached 264–more than twice the 118 nests recorded in 2022 and 3.8 times the 69 nests in 2018. Despite this continuous population increase over the past 30 years, rising water levels in Lake Khanka threaten the birds’ persistence. To maintain Oriental stork numbers and preserve nesting sites in the reserve, we recommend continuing biotechnical measures such as constructing and installing artifi cial nesting platforms on the territory of the protected area.

DOI: 10.25221/2782-1978_2026_1_4

Full text

Keywords: Oriental stork, threatened species, species conservation, Red Data Book, Khankaisky Nature Reserve,