National natural park Altyn-Emel. The largest reserve of Kazakhstan

The article narrates about the largest reserve of Kazakhstan under the name of Altyn-Emel. It is located on the slopes of the Dzhungar Alatau ridge. The area of the reserve is 460 thousand hectares. A park was created to preserve rare plants and animals.

National park location

The reserve is located 150 kilometers from the city called Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan). It is located on the right bank of the Ili River, capturing the northern part of the Kapchagai Reservoir.

If you decide to visit the park, then inevitably the question arises: how to get to Altyn-Emel? Kapchagai is the closest city to the reserve, it is transported from Alma-Ata. Then by car you need to go along the Kapchagai reservoir to the cordon at number one. The city of Kapchagay (Alma-Ata region) is located 160 kilometers from Alma-Ata. The whole road to the park, in general, will take you no more than three hours. Of course, the path is not quite close, but it is worthwhile to overcome it, to see the unique sights of the reserve, considering that the age of some of them is more than 2500 thousand years, and also to see the rarest predators and birds. If you want, you can leave Almaty and get to the reserve through the city of Kapchagai, arranging a one-day trip.

But there is another road passing through Sary-Ozek, where, bypassing the Altyn-Emel pass, one can reach Basshi. The path from Alma-Ata to the central manor takes about six hours, its length is 320 kilometers. This option is longer - the journey will take from three to five days. However, during this time you can see the most famous sights of the park: Mount Aktau, Katy-Tau, singing barkhan, old seven-hundred-year-old willows and the rarest animals.

History of creation

The state national nature park Altyn-Emel was established in 1996 on the basis of the Kapchagai hunting farm. The main manor is located in the village of Basshi. From it, the city of Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan) is 250 kilometers away. The reserve stretched for thirty kilometers from north to south, and from east to west more than two hundred.

Such a beautiful name of the reserve was not without reason, it has ancient Mongolian roots and is translated only as a "golden saddle". There is even a legend that says that in the summer of 1219 the famous troops of Genghis Khan crossed the valley, moving towards the conquest of Central Asia. At sunset, the mountains with yellowed grass seemed to the commander resembling a golden saddle. And indeed, if you look closely, the outline of the Altyn-Emel pass actually resembles a saddle.

On the territory of the park there are a variety of landscapes: from sand deserts to mountains. In addition, the reserve is famous for its historical and cultural monuments.

Singing barkhan

Singing barkhan is a high sand dune (about 100 meters) length more than three kilometers. He got his name because of the sometimes vibrating buzz that resembles the sound of an organ. So the songs of the Singing Barkhan are audible for kilometers. The sound is born at a time when the grains are rubbing one against the other - there is a barely perceptible squeak, and with strong gusts a more expressive sound is born. But the melody of the barkhana can be heard even in windless weather. Steps on it cause friction between particles, which leads to unusual sound. Despite the sand shift, the barkhan does not roam and has been in the park for several millennia.

Local legend says that under the sands of the barkhana Genghis Khan and his brave warriors are buried, and the barkhan begins to sing when the Khan tells his descendants of his great deeds.

Aktau

The natural park Altyn-Emel consists of unique objects, one of which is Aktau. These are the Cretaceous mountains of the Cenozoic period, consisting of gypsum clay, where wind and water for thousands of years protruded extraordinary canyons.

The main feature of this place is the total absence of any kind of vegetation, why it becomes like the lunar landscapes. For these mountains are characterized by steep slopes and quite strong dismemberment due to the constant mud flows and downpours. Aktau in Altyn-Emel is a world-famous unique paleontological deposit. In the lake sediments are perfectly preserved remains of ancient animals such as giant rhinoceroses, crocodiles, turtles, primitive predators, their age is estimated to reach 25-30 million years. Not far from Aktau are the mountains of Katutau.

Kotutau Mountains

The mountains stretched from the southwest to the northeast in the form of a hilly ridge with peaks in the form of a plateau. Slopes are cut by a large number of waterless gorges. Bright strips of blue limestone sandstone and red clay. The word "katutau" in translation means "severe mountains".

It is believed that in the Perm period in this very place were two volcanoes. Indeed, the mountains are composed exclusively of lava and other volcanic rocks. There are also cracks in the ground, which are filled with magma. And they were formed during the earthquake during the movement of the underground layers. The length of some of them reaches eight kilometers. In the north of Aktau and Katutau, there were preserved the rocks of the once existing ancient Tethys ocean, which took the form of intricate figures.

Kalkans

Small and Large Kalkans is a Paleozoic massif that is characterized by intensive destruction of rocks. Externally, these are quite unremarkable low mountains that are located in the south of the Altyn-Emel park. Nothing interesting, and especially not in them, but it is between them is the world-famous Singing Barkhan.

Bessatyr

Besshatyr is nothing but unique archaeological sites. They are also called Tsar's burial mounds - these are burials of the Saka leaders of the 7th-3rd centuries BC. The mounds are surrounded by original rings of menhirs, which somehow resemble the famous stones of Stonehenge. In the valley there are 31 mounds, the largest of which reaches a height of 17 meters, and its diameter is 108 meters. Scientists have established that the remains of the Saka leaders rest in them. Barrows are burial vaults of kings. In the mountain canyons, entire galleries of petroglyph images of hunting scenes and animals are found.

The Ili River

Altyn-Emel Park has the main water artery, which is also the border of the reserve - it is the Ili River. Its origin it takes on the lands of China. The river has mixed food.

A light spring flood begins, as a rule, in April. From the thawed mountain snows in May, there is a flood, which does not subside until July-August. Then the gradual decrease in water level begins, and in September the usual value is established. In winter the river freezes for several months.

Climate

The climate of the region is sharply continental, deserted, with a rather cold dry winter and hot summer. The greatest amount of rain falls in April-May. The average annual temperature is 4-5 degrees.

Altyn-Emel Park: Flora

The flora of the reserve includes 1,500 plants, among them there are rare plants listed in the Red Book. Special attention should be paid to endemics and relicts: Smolevka Muslim, Alberta tulips, Astragal Kopal, Kahris Herder, Vitaly catchment.

Most of the park's plants have useful properties. And many are food for wild animals. Fruits and seeds are eaten by rodents and birds, and pagoons are ungulates. Especially valuable is the eastern feather grass, shrub shrub, white wormwood and others. There are medicinal plants, honey-bearing plants, essential oils.

Fauna

Only insects in the reserve there are more than 5000 varieties. Of these, 25 species are listed in the Red Book. These are grasshoppers, mantises, dragonflies, coleopterans, etc.

Vertebrate animals of the park are also quite diverse. In the Kapchagai reservoir there are twenty varieties of fish, three of which are endemic. The reptiles of the reserve are represented by 25 species: Shinto, alai hologram, patterned skid, steppe agama, snake arrow and others.

Of the 200 birds that live here, they nest in the reserve zone 174, and 18 are listed in the Red Book: the white-eyed duck, the black stork, the gray crane, the golden eagle, the serpent, the bearded man, the brown pigeon, the owl, the sage, the beauty bustard, the brown dove.

On the territory of Altyn-Emel there are more than seventy mammals, among which there are seven endangered species: dressing, red marten, otter, snow leopard, Tien Shan mountain ram, kulan. The reserve contains the largest populations of mountain goats, gazelles, snow leopards. Still here there are artiodactyls - roe deer, saigas, wild boars, argali.

On the territory of the reserve in the crevices of rocks live ptarmigan partridge. These are beautiful smart birds, reviving the desert landscape of the mountains. They are very mobile and quickly scurry between the stones, running from the hole to the gasket, while they loudly shout over, arranging a many-voiced noise. Kekliki, as a rule, very rarely fly, they just flit from stone to stone, jumping over obstacles. If they are frightened, they snap up and continue to plan over the crevice, trying to escape from the persecution in this way.

Indispensable inhabitants of these local are mountain swallows. And on the steep walls of rocks there are occasionally stenolazy, these are beautiful birds, fluttering like butterflies. Vzmahivaya crimson-black wings, they look like exotic moths.

And very high in the mountains inhabits the Himalayan neck. He is also called kumai in Kazakhstan. I must say that this bird is one of the three largest predators in the world. The bird world in the reserve is very rich, due to the fact that on its territory are very different natural objects, from the desert plains and ending with the mountains.

In the national park, the efforts of its employees have saved the entire diversity of inanimate and living nature.

Tourism

Currently, the national park actively accepts sightseeing groups on its territory. And the duration of the trip can be very different. The shortest trip is one day trip. However, to see all the sights, you need to spend a lot more time.

The importance of the reserve for Kazakhstan is very great, as it is engaged in the conservation of endangered mammals. In addition, the territory of the park has long been a testing ground for active work to preserve the fauna of these places. Thanks to active protection measures and fighting against poachers, the gazelle is walking around the reserve without fear. Even in the middle of the XX century there were a couple of dozen, and now the reserve has the largest population.

In 2003, the active work was begun to restore the wild horse Przewalski in nature, which disappeared in Kazakhstan in the XVIII century. However, this project proved to be rather difficult, since horse breeding is widespread in the country and a lot of horses are wandering around the reserve, which prevents the breeding of pure breed.