Prolonged late freeze-up has disrupted delivery of essential foods to settlements near Khatanga. Authorities used a hovercraft to deliver supplies to Novaya and Zhdanikha, while shops are extending credit and resident debts are rising.

Border and fisheries officers detained Khatanga residents who illegally caught 2,400 muksun and 35 broad whitefish, causing an estimated 168 million rubles in damage. Authorities are considering a criminal case under Russia’s Article 256 on illegal extraction of aquatic biological resources.

Climate change has led to sightings of species like the European adder, spiders, and herons beyond their typical range in the Russian Arctic.

A state of emergency was declared in mid-August in Khatanga, a small town on the banks of the river of the same name in Russia’s far northern Taymyr Peninsula, after more than 1,200 dead reindeer were found scattered on the river’s banks.

Poaching and climate change might be the reasons why more than 1,200 migrating animals did not make it across the wide Arctic waterway.

Climate change is triggering behavior change among animals across the Arctic. In Northern Siberia wild reindeer this summer started migrating almost a month earlier than normal.