Franz Josef Land and snow bunting. Some ivory gulls, little auks and Brünnich's guillemots opt to spend the winter on the islands. The polar bear population of Franz Josef Land lies within the Barents Sea subpopulation, which also includes polar bears inhabiting Svalbard and the western coast of Novaya Zemlya. In 2004, the Barents Sea subpopulation was estimated at 2,650. There is also a population of Arctic fox, which typically have their territories near seabird habitats. Being declared as a marine mammal sanctuary, the island has rich biodiversity of rare marine mammals. Three species of seals habit the archipelago. Harp seal is the
Tyko Vylka Novaya Zemlya archipelago. In 1956, the whole civil (indigenous) population of Novaya Zemlya was forcedly relocated to enable the usage of the islands as a military base and a nuclear bomb testing ground. After the resettlement, Tyko Vylka lived in Arkhangelsk, where he died in 1960s. There is a street named in his name in Arkhangelsk. In 1981, a film "The Great Sami" () appeared, featuring the career of Vylka. After one of the Rusanov's expeditions, Vylka created a report as an album of drawings, which was presented to Tsar Nicholas II. It is generally accepted however that he produced