Of the cat family, the lynx and the wildcat have become very rare and are met with only in the Carpathians and the Caucasus; the lynx also in the Polissye country. The bear, formerly very frequent thruout the Ukraine, is now also confined to these three regions. On the other hand, wolves, foxes, badgers, martens, polecats and all sorts of small animals of prey have survived, altho in very much smaller numbers. Of the large plant-eating animals the bison (thanks only to the unusual care on the part of the government) has survived in the primeval forest of Biloveza, the moose-deer only in the Polissye, the stag only in the Carpathians and the Caucasus. On the other hand, there are still a great many roes and wild boars in the woods. Of the rodents the hare is still common everywhere, while the beaver, which at one time inhabited all the rivers of the Ukraine, is now confined to the most inaccessible swamps of the Polissye and the Caucasian tributaries of the Kuban. The bird kingdom, too, has become much poorer in species. Large birds of prey, like eagles and hawks, nest only in the Carpathians and in the Caucasus — very seldom in the woods of the plain. The heath fowl and grouse seek the most inaccessible thickets, and even the number of small insect and grain-feeders has been greatly reduced. Of the waterfowl, wild ducks, wild geese, coot,
diving birds, etc., are still very numerous. Cranes and herons are rare. The former wealth of fish is ruined and no one takes care of the artificial raising of fish. To be sure, much fish is still caught, especially in the Dnieper and Don systems, mainly pike, tench, carp, crucian, shad, etc., and trout in the mountain streams; but of the abundance of even the comparatively recent past, there is no trace. Sturgeon, sterlet and other sea fish, which formerly came in great swarms up the Dniester, Boh and Dnieper, are only seldom found today.
The steppe region has lost even more of its animal wealth. Above all, the rich higher animal life of the transition zones, which as late as the 18th Century, provided food for the populous Zaporog Sich, has quite disappeared. The tarpani (wild horses), which still inhabited the steppe in great herds in the 17th Century, are now completely exterminated. Saiga antelopes (saihaki), once generally distributed thruout the steppe region of the Ukraine, have retreated to the Caspian steppe. The smaller game and the bird world have suffered far less, but the activity of man, who has changed the steppes into fields and pastures, has been fatal to them too. The bustard, sandpiper, partridge and grouse, which formerly inhabited the steppe brush in great numbers have become rare. The same may be said of the bird-world of the watercourses and swamps which once inhabited the river districts of the steppe in immense swarms. The insectivorous birds, too, have decreased, and the harmful insects are increasing at a terrible rate. Only the locust pest, which formerly caused great damage in agriculture, is now almost gone.
But, in spite of the war of extermination which man is waging against the animal world of the steppe, animal species are found which were well able to adapt themselves to the new circumstances, have become accustomed to man and have found plenty of food in the fields of the cultivated steppe (field-mice, marmot, ground squirrels, etc.)- They have increased greatly and have migrated toward the west and north, causing great damage to farming.
As we must dispense with a scientific discussion of the flora and fauna of the Ukraine, we shall only report a few esssential facts about the useful plants and domestic animals.
The Ukraine, according to its soil and its climate, is the richest grain country of Europe. For wheat the conditions in the Ukraine are the most favorable, especially in the southern half of the black-earth region. Rye is raised more widely in the north and northwest; barley everywhere, but on a large scale only in the south; oats in the north and in the Carpathians, where it is often used to make bread. Buckwheat is distributed chiefly on the northern edge of the black-earth region; millet thrives well in the entire Chornozyom region. Corn is raised on a large scale only in the southwest and in the sub-Caucasus country.