Reserves of Kazakhstan.

"Animals that love each other are higher than people who hate each other"

Baurzhan Toyhibekov.

Wildlife protection in Kazakhstan.

State natural reserve "Altyn Dala" (Kaz. "Altyn Dala" memlekettіk tabiғi reserves) is a specially protected natural area with the status of a legal entity, located in the Kostanay region of Kazakhstan and designed to contribute to the preservation of objects of the state natural reserve fund, including the protection of habitats , reproduction and migration routes of saigas.
The reserve is located in the Amangeldinsky and Dzhangeldinsky districts of the Kostanay region. It included the territory of the Sarykopinsky reserve. The reserve was created by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated November 26, 2012 No. 1496 on an area of ​​489 766 hectares, consists of three cluster sites:
- Sarykopinsky - 52 115 hectares, (Sarykop lake system),
- Tosynkum - 95,981 hectares (sands of Tosynkum and a section of the left bank of the Turgai River),
- Uly-Zhylanshyk - 341 670 hectares (deserted steppes and a section of the Uly-Zhylanshyk river).
The steppes and semi-deserts within the state nature reserve are about 400,000 hectares. The territory of the reserve is located in the South Turgai province of the West Siberian-Kazakhstan region of the steppe zone of Eurasia between the Mugodzhary in the west and the Ulytau mountains in the east.
From the south it is bounded by the vast Chelkar-Teniz depression. Located in the closed river basin of the Turgai and Uly-Zhylanshik rivers. This is a territory for the conservation of biodiversity of ecosystems of deserted steppes and northern deserts of Central Kazakhstan.
The reserve covers key lambing, concentration, wintering and migration routes of the country's largest Betpak-Dala saiga population. Its borders also included the unique, largest in the region, the Sarykopa system of freshwater lakes, recognized as a key bird area.
Within the region, this part of the Turgai canteen of the country is distinguished by a smoothed flat relief with absolute marks from 120 to 200 meters above sea level. The height gradually rises from west to east to the Zhilanshikturme Upland, located in the interfluve of the meridional sections of the Kara-Turgai and Uly-Zhilanshik rivers.
The absolute elevation marks are within 200 - 300 meters above sea level. The Sarykopinsky reserve was one of the sections of the serial nomination "Steppes and lakes of Northern Kazakhstan" and claimed to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, but was subsequently excluded from it due to the requirement of the World Heritage Committee to increase the nature conservation status of the reserve.
However, in 2008, in its decision to recognize Saryarka as meeting natural criteria, the Committee urged Kazakhstan to consider expanding this serial facility and include the territory of the Sarykopinsky reserve with a higher status, along with additional areas of the Korgalzhyn reserve.
In 2017, work began on the reintroduction of kulans in Central Kazakhstan with the aim of creating a new grouping of the species and restoring the completeness of steppe ecosystems. The work is carried out by the Kazakhstan Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ACBK) together with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (Norway) and the structures of the Committee for Forestry and Wildlife of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, with the support of international partners - the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZO, Germany), Nuremberg Zoo (Germany), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (UK).
In the fall of 2017, 9 kulans from the Altyn-Emel National Park were transported to the ACBK reintroduction center on the territory of the Altyn Dala reserve. On April 4, 2018, the kulans were released. Two females were subsequently killed by poachers.
During 2018 - 2019, it was planned to transport more than 30 kulans, but in 2018 attempts to catch kulans in Altyn-Emel were unsuccessful. On October 11, 2019, an adult female and a young male kulans from the Barsakelmes Reserve were delivered to the reintroduction center.
Altyn Dala reserve address: Republic of Kazakhstan, Kostanay region, Amangeldy region, Amangeldy village, st. Baytursynov 60.

Authorityand photos:
https://altyndala.kspi.k z/index.html