Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took a motorboat tour of the nature reserve, taking the driving seat himself for part of the route around Lake Kurile.
Director of the nature reserve, Tikhon Shpilenok, told the prime minister that up to two million salmon spawn here annually, counterbalancing the effect of commercial fishing.
The prime minister was shown the places where bears hunt for salmon. He asked whether poaching is a problem for the nature reserve and how many bears are killed by poachers in Kamchatka each year. The nature reserve's director replied that poachers kill some 600 bears annually but it's difficult to give an accurate figure. He added that in 2007 the police seized 400 smuggled bear paws near the village of Ozyorny indicating that poachers had killed at least 100 bears. However, Mr Shpilenok noted that the federal nature reserve status has enabled this wildlife area to form "the world's largest protected population of brown bears." He added that bears are attracted by fish, which is in abundance here.
There are about 19,000 brown bears in Kamchatka. They account for 5% of the entire global brown bear population.
The South Kamchatka wildlife reserve is part of the Kronotsky nature reserve. It encircles Lake Kurile, which formed over 8,000 years ago in the wake of a massive volcanic eruption. Lake Kurile is the world's largest salmon spawning ground. The only river that flows out of the lake is the Ozyornaya. Sockeye salmon migrate from the Sea of Okhotsk to Lake Kurile along this river.