By the beginning of World War 2 there were 19 animals in the park yet some of them were killed during military actions. As a result of protection of the animals and some other bio- and technical measures the number of bisons increased up to 70 during next twenty years. You can easily find wild boars through out Belavezhskaya Puscha. There live also wolves, lynxes, polecats and ferrets, weasels, foxes, martens, ermines, raccoons and other forest inhabitants. Beavers and otters dwell along rivers and forest brooks while old woods swarm with hares.
Fir woods are rich in squirrels.
The most numerous rodents are mice whereas the most common insectivorous are moles and shrews. The world of birds in Belavezhskaya Puscha is even more various and rich. Furthermore, there are more than 20 species of predatory birds, plenty of wood game. Various hazel-bens are especially numerous in Puscha. It is the very place where most of the capercailzies living in the country are concentrated, where black storks build their nests and some pheasants have been brought to breed.