On average it erupts 60 million tons of basalt a year, or 2.5 percent of the material ejected by all 850 active land volcanoes. The peninsula's most reliable volcano is Karymsky, which has been erupting continuously since 1996. The animals of Kamchatka have turned the harsh volcanic environment to their advantage. Birds build nests on the grooved rock formations that surround geysers. When the geysers erupt, boiling water lands and flows directly beneath the nest through channels carved into the rock.
Bears appear to be genuinely fearless of volcanoes.
Life in a volcanic environment can nevertheless be treacherous for animals. Birds seem especially vulnerable, and they are frequently struck from the sky by falling volcanic bombs. During the massive eruption of Tolbachik Volcano in 1975-76, volcanologists reported seeing birds flying at night into the flames of the volcano, like moths toward a candle. Larger animals are occasionally killed in the wintertime, when they plunge through the snow into boiling mud cauldrons or geysers. A region of Kamchatka called the Valley of Death has been especially lethal to animals.