Tours to animals in Karkaraly park.

"We climb higher and higher, it's terrifying to think that we'll have to descend such a steep slope. When it becomes impossible to ride the horses, we simply abandon them. They won't go anywhere, only moving from one hole to another filled with melted snow. We lie down at a height and try to make sense of the vast landscape of valleys and hills. From here, it's very difficult to distinguish an argali from a red bush. Khali himself asks me, pointing to a suspicious spot, whether it's an argali or a rock. Binoculars are necessary, but no. It seems the argali is standing, head bowed, grazing..."

Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin. "Argali." 1926.

Nature photos of Karkaraly park.

Karkaraly State National Nature Park is home to approximately 170 vertebrate species, including 40 mammals, 114 birds, 6 reptiles, 2 amphibians, and 4 fish. The invertebrate fauna has been poorly studied, and there is currently no precise data on its species composition.

Animals listed in Karkaraly Park.

Argali, steppe viper, and Ignatov's minnow inhabit the national park. The mammal fauna is dominated by rodents: the red-cheeked ground squirrel, the gray marmot, the steppe mouse, the great jerboa, the jumping jerboa, the Djungarian hamster, the Eversmann's hamster, the common hamster, the St. Petersburg vole, the northern red-backed vole, the muskrat, the steppe lemming, the water vole, the common vole, the narrow-skulled vole, the wood mouse, the house mouse, and the baby mouse.
Ungulates include the Siberian roe deer, elk, and argali. Wild boar and red deer were successfully reacclimatized at the end of the last century. Carnivores include wolves, foxes, corsac foxes, badgers, ermines, weasels, steppe polecats, lynxes, and Pallas's cats.
Common hares and steppe pikas are common, and the brown hare is occasionally encountered. Common rodents include the marmot, gray marmot, red-cheeked souslik, large and small jerboas, and over a dozen species of voles and mice. The Teleut squirrel was successfully acclimatized back in the 1930s.
Relatively rare are the long-eared hedgehog, water shrew, lesser white-toothed shrew, and shrews – common, tundra, and little. Argali and Pallas's cat are listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan. Hares, marmots, squirrels, muskrats, and all species of predatory and ungulate animals (except those listed in the Red Book) are hunted both recreationally and commercially.
Before 1940, bears were found in the Karkarly Nature Park. The largest mammals are ungulates: wild boar, red deer, Siberian roe deer, elk, and argali. Insectivores, bats, and lagomorphs also inhabit the national park. Within the national park, argali live primarily in the Sarmantai and Karagash Mountains of the Kent Regional Branch; according to visual observations, there are 14 individuals.

Birds in Karkaraly Park.

Most bird species are migratory, but there are also many nesting birds. The following bird species are listed in the Red Book: golden eagle, gray partridge, common crane, demoiselle crane, as well as great spotted woodpecker and black stork.
The bird fauna is very diverse. Owls include the scops owl, little owl, long-eared owl, and eagle owl. Diurnal raptors include the golden eagle, booted eagle, black kite, common buzzard, hawks (goshawk and sparrowhawk), Montagu's and Marsh Harriers, saker falcon, hobby falcon, merlin, and kestrels (common and lesser kestrels).
Common forest birds include the great spotted woodpecker, mistle thrush, tree pipit, great tit, chaffinch, turtle dove, cuckoo, oriole, nightjar, and black grouse. Rare vagrant species appear in autumn: nutcracker, Siberian jay, black woodpecker, and great grey shrike.
Buntings, warblers, redstarts, bluethroats, and larks are often seen in clearings and forest edges, while waders and wagtails can be found along the shores of lakes and riverbanks. The black stork, one of the most notable birds listed in the Red Book, occasionally nests here.
Other endangered birds include the golden eagle, booted eagle, osprey, saker falcon, eagle owl, as well as the swan goose and black-headed gull, with isolated sightings recorded in this region. Game species include black grouse, gray partridge, and quail.

Reptiles in Karkaraly Park.

Reptiles most commonly encountered include the sand lizard and the ornate snake, while less common are the viviparous lizard, copperhead snake, steppe viper, and grass snake. The lakes and rivers are abundant in fish, including crucian carp, pike, perch, and roach.

Authority:
ttp://karkaralinsk-park.ru/about_parks.php

Photos
Alexander Petrov.