In the Western Tien-Shan, meadows and steppe turn to rugged mountains and narrow gorges with overhanging stone ledges. Wild rivers tear down deep canyons through thundering waterfalls. And the fathomless blue of of the sky reflects in the mirror-like surface of icy mountain lakes.
Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve. Kazakhstan nature
The Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve is located at the western extremity of the Talasski Alatau ridge in the Western Tien Shan at an altitude ranging from 1,100m to 4,236m. Its outer regions offer highly attractive landscapes and are accessible and well-developed for ecotourism. The Great Silk Road, dating back to the third century B.C., ran close by and offers further opportunities for adventure.
The Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve offers over 850 sq. km of wonderful archa (juniper) forests, alpine meadows, streams, rivers and rocky mountains. It was the first nature reserve created in Central Asia and Kazakhstan and is the only UNESCO biosphere reserve in the region. It hosts 1,279 recorded species of flora, 57 of them registered in the Red Book of Kazakhstan including the Greig's Tulip (the symbol of the reserve). There are also 238 species of birds and 42 species of mammals; including many endangered ones (Egyptian vulture, berkut, black stork, blue bird, brown bear, arkhar, paradise flycatcher, snow leopard, Central Asian lynx and others).
Highlights include: the giant Aksu Canyon (15 km long and 500 m deep), the Burgulyk Gorge, lakes Kyzyl-kol and Balyktin and their two powerful underground springs, the Akbiik karst cave with its stalactite and stalagmite galleries and underground lake, as well as the Kelte-Mashat Gorge (a 10-km long canyon and its 'Crying Cave'). The Aulie and Karabastauc paleontology sites lay on the Karatau ridge, 120 km to the northeast of the main reserve. Their petroglyphs, carved into dark shiny stone and dating back to the 5-7th cc B.C., lay over 3,000 m above sea level and depict wild and domestic animals, hunting scenes and the daily lives of our ancestors. Well preserved petrified imprints of the ancient local inhabitants - plants, fish, insects, and pangolins - are also found in shale deposits there.
The Reserve offers the following tourist routes:
