Open-Pit Mine Kiyzassky becomes patron of roe deer family

Helping the Kuznetsk Alatau Environmental Center and participating in its guardianship program will become a tradition for the enterprise

Open-Pit Mine Kiyzassky has become a deer patron as part of the Kuznetsk Alatau Environmental Center’s ‘Love and Care’ program. The program was launched in 2018 to improve the conditions of the center’s animals.

“We suggested that they choose just one animal as a ward, but the enterprise’s employees decided on a pair of roe deer,” said Nadezhda Eliseeva, deputy director of environmental education at the Kuznetsk Alatau Environmental Center. “Roe deer are the most gentle and graceful member of the deer family,” she added.

The funds contributed by the company are spent on feed, veterinary care, and improving the living conditions of the deer couple, Ryzhik and Kosulka. About a month ago, the family received an addition: a baby was born! Their long-awaited firstborn has the distinctive dappled coloring that helps young animals hide from danger in the wild. The fawn is still feeding on his mother’s milk. He doesn’t have a name yet, but it’s just a matter of time.  

“In March of 2019, the management of the Kuznetsk Alatau State Nature Preserve approached us, proposing that we become an animal patron, said Andrey Borshchevich, general director of Open-Pit Mine Kiyzassky. “We gladly agreed to participate in this good endeavor. In July, the couple had a baby, which is now under the supervision of professionals. And, in the coming days, we and the Kuznetsk Alatau Environmental Center will announce a competition to choose the baby’s name. The results will be revealed on August 24 at the Miner’s Day celebrations in Myskah. We invite everyone to take part in the competition!”

Open-Pit Mine Kiyzassky will continue to take active part in the life of the nature preserve and its guardianship program. “It is a good, joy-giving example for others,” noted Alexey Vasilchenko, director of the Kuznetsk Alatau Environmental Center. 

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Ryzhik and Kosulka are roe deer from the taiga near the village of Teba. They were both brought to the Kuznetsk Alatau Environmental Center when they were still quite young.  

Ryzhik arrived two and a half years ago with a serious injury, which the center’s staff managed to cure. In May of 2017, Kosulka was found in the forest alone, with no parents. She was rescued by caring people, who took her home, fed and treated her, and then transferred her to the center.

It is dangerous to return roe deer to the wild, so they have remained at the center. They quickly adapted to their new lives and have already produced offspring.