Bisons, elks, red deer, brown bears, boars and other large mammals inhabit the Krasnaya Polyana region and Sochi 2014 are determined to preserve the natural environment in the areas near where the Winter Olympic Games will take place.

The Deputy Director of the Caucasus State Natural Biosphere Reserve, Nikolay Esin, said: "In the near future the animals will leave for wintering.

"Therefore their returning to familiar inhabitations is very important.

"That's exactly what the feeding stands are useful for: we need them to form the population's spatial arrangement.

"It is all about attracting the hoofed animals with salt which makes it possible to hold them within the population circle and contributes to preserving the biodiversity."

The 9,600 capacity Ski & Biathlon centre is a key site of the Sochi 2014 Games, located in the mountain cluster of venues being readied for the Winter Olympics.

It is named after the Laura mountain river which runs from the boundaries of the Caucasian Nature Reserve.

The environment and sustainability is a key plank of the Sochi 2014 preparations, with the Olympic Construction Environmental Support Programme approved in 2008.

A total of 120 activities took place in 2010 to help preserve the natural environment of the region near the Black Sea resort in the south of Russia, including the migration of hundreds of animals and the planting of 9,000 trees near the "Sanki" sliding centre.

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