Popular zoology played a significant role in Russian and Soviet science popularization from the 19th to the 20th century. This science popularization tradition originated from the 19th-century Russian academic practice of teaching local fauna. In the first half of the 20th century, the state-led "Young Naturalists" movement exerted a widespread and profound influence on the youth. Yevgeny Spangenberg and Aleksandr Formozov were representative popular zoologists of this period. Their works transcended the mere transmission of objective knowledge, developing a distinctively literary narrative style originating from the natural history tradition. By integrating personal experiences, reflections on hunting, and the interpretation of animal tracks, these works vividly portrayed the complex, contextualized relationships between humans and animals, emphasizing the importance of emotional connection and immersive observation.