The current state of Pleistocene Park, Russia (An experiment in the restoration of megafauna in a boreal environment)

Pleistocene Park is a protected area located near the Arctic Circle in the Eastern part of Russia. It was established by Sergey Zimov and his team in order to perform an experiment on the restoration of the environment that existed there during the Pleistocene period. It was expected that low-productivity boreal habitats would be replaced by highly-productive grasslands resembling African savanna. This experiment was launched in 1988, and its continuation is planned for the indefinite future. The territory of the park was surveyed recently and its actual state was characterized.