"On the whole one can say that average temperatures in the Amur river valley have changed twice as much as in the rest of the world on average. The most likely forecast is for the average temperature to go up by six degrees a year and up to 10 degrees in certain seasons over 50-80 years, which would mean radical changes in local ecosystems," the scientists said in a statement.

Changes in rain and snowfall particularly affect endangered species, with a large number of animals perishing in the heavy blizzards of 2003 and 2004, and the rare Japanese cranes suffering from a three-year drought.

Such climate changes thus require existing projects for the conservation of rare animals to be re-worked, ecologists suggested.

Russia's Far East is home to several nearly extinct species, including the Japanese crane, the Amur tiger and the Far East leopard.

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