Tuva.Asia / The New Research of Tuva

To capture an irbis and to mark him with a satellite collar – that was the task that the scientists from A.N. Severtsov Institute of problems of ecology and evolution of RAN (IPEE RAN) set themselves. The zoologists worked in the protected zone of the Mongun-Taiga part of the “Ubsunur depression” nature preserve from June to middle of August. Vyacheslav Rozhnov, the leader of the project, deputy director of IPEE RAN, shared his impressions with the staff of the Russian Geographic Society site. This expedition is the first step in the development of a large program for study of the irbis population in the south of Russia, - he said. This is the first time that field studies were conducted in this part of the Altai-Sayan region.

During the “KAMWA-2010”  ethno-futuristic music festival, the Tuvan group Huun-Huur-Tu gave a performance which was astonishing with its authentic energetics. Our correspondents met with the members of the group – Radik Tyulyush and Aleksei Saryglar, and discussed ethnic music, national character, and shamanism. - Your group has become one of the most famous Russian groups in the West.  How would you explain the reason for your success? - Radik Tyulyush: If you consider the West, the musical tendencies there have long followed artificial directions. The instruments have become modernized. They left their roots. Then they became oversaturated, and the audiences started wanting to go back to nature. People want to understand their roots, and people showed up who became interested in places where civilization did not reach; the search for the forgotten started.  These seekers found it interesting to hear Tuvan melodies, our instruments, our language. They were surprised by our throat singing. For Western musicians, this was an untried experience.