The article is about the largest reserve.Kazakhstan under the name Altyn-Emel. It is located on the slopes of the Junggar Alatau ridge. The area of the reserve is 460 thousand hectares. A park has been created for the conservation of rare plants and animals.
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, it is inevitablethe question arises: how to get to Altyn-Emel? Kapchagay is the closest city to the reserve, it runs from Almaty. Next, by car you need to go along the Kapchagai reservoir to the cordon at number one. The city of Kapchagai (Alma-Ata region) is located 160 kilometers from Almaty. The whole road to the park, in general, will take you no more than three hours. Of course, the path is not very close, but it is worth overcoming it to see the unique sights of the reserve, given that some of them are over 2500 thousand years old, and also to see the rarest predators and birds. If you wish, you can leave Alma-Ata and get to the reserve through the city of Kapchagai, having arranged a day trip for yourself.
But there is another road passing throughSary-Ozek, where, passing the Altyn-Emel pass, you can get to Bassha. The path from Alma-Ata to the central estate 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 will be able to see the most famous sights of the park: Mount Aktau, Kata-Tau, the singing sand dunes, the old seven hundred years old willows and rare animals.
State National Nature ParkAltyn-Emel was founded in 1996 on the basis of Kapchagai hunting. The main manor is located in the village of Basshi. From it the city of Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan) is located 250 kilometers away. The reserve stretched for thirty kilometers from north to south, and from east to west for more than two hundred.
The reserve got such a beautiful name.for good reason, it has ancient Mongolian roots and is translated as “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 to the conquest of Central Asia. At sunset, the mountains with yellowed grass seemed to the commander like a golden saddle. And indeed, if you look closely, the outlines of the Altyn-Emel Pass actually resemble a saddle.
In the park there are a variety of landscapes: from sandy deserts to the mountains. In addition, the reserve is famous for its historical and cultural monuments.
The singing sand dune is a high sandydune (about 100 meters) with a length of more than three kilometers. It received its name due to the sometimes vibrating hum coming from it, which resembles the sound of an organ. So the songs of the Singing Dune are heard for kilometers. The sound is born at the moment when the grains of sand rub against each other - a subtle squeak appears, and with strong gusts a more expressive sound is born. But the dune's melody can be heard even in calm weather. Steps on it cause friction between particles, which leads to an unusual sound. Despite the quakeiness of the sand, the sand dune does not roam and has been in the park for several thousand years.
The local legend says that Genghis Khan and his brave warriors are buried under the sands of the sand dunes, and the sand dunes begin to sing when the khan tells his descendants about his great exploits.
Natural Park Altyn-Emel consists of uniqueobjects, one of which is Aktau. These are the Cretaceous mountains of the Cenozoic period, consisting of plastered clay, where the wind and water for thousands of years pierced the extraordinary canyons.
The main feature of this place is fullthe absence of at least some vegetation, making it look like moon landscapes. These mountains are characterized by steep slopes and rather strong dismemberment due to constant mudflows and rainfall. Aktau in Altyn-Emel is a world-famous unique paleontological deposit. Well-preserved remains of ancient animals such as giant rhinos, crocodiles, turtles, and primitive predators have been found in lake sediments, experts estimate their age as 25-30 million years. Not far from Aktau there are also the Katutau Mountains.
Mountains stretch from southwest to northeast inas a hilly ridge with peaks in the form of a plateau. The slopes are cut by a large number of waterless gorges. Blue limestone sandstones and red clay are dotted with bright stripes. The word "Katutau" means "harsh mountains".
Считается, что в пермском периоде на этом самом the place was two volcanoes. And indeed, the mountains are composed solely of lava and other volcanic rocks. There are also cracks in the earth that are filled with magma. And they were formed during the earthquake during the movement of underground layers. The length of some of them reaches eight kilometers. In the north of Aktau and Katutau, rocks of the once-existing ancient ocean of Tethys are preserved, which took the form of intricate figures.
Малые и Большие Калканы – это палеозойский array, which is characterized by intense destruction of rocks. Outwardly, these are completely unremarkable low mountains, which are located in the south of Altyn-Emel park. There is nothing interesting and especially in them, but it is precisely between them that the Singing Dune is world famous.
Besshatyr is nothing but uniquearchaeological sites. They are also called Tsars' kurgans - these are the graves of Saka leaders of the 7th – 3rd centuries BC. The mounds are surrounded by peculiar rings of menhirs, which somewhat resemble the famous stones of Stonehenge. In the valley there are 31 barrows, the largest of which reaches a height of 17 meters, and its diameter is 108 meters. Scientists have determined that the remains of Saka leaders lie in them. Mounds are the tombs of kings. In the mountain gorges, entire galleries of rock paintings of hunting scenes and animals were found.
Altyn-Emel Park has a main waterway, which is also the boundary of the reserve - it is the Ili River. It takes its origin in the lands of China. The river has a mixed supply.
Light spring flood begins asusually in April. From the thawed mountain snow in May there is a flood, which does not fall until July-August. Then begins a gradual decrease in the water level, and in September the usual value is set. In winter, the river freezes for several months.
The climate of the region is sharply continental, desert,with fairly cold dry in winter and hot in summer. The greatest amount of rain falls in April-May. The average annual temperature is 4-5 degrees.
Flora Reserve has a half thousandplants, among them there are rare, listed in the Red Book. Endemics and relics deserve special attention: Muslim's sable, Albert's tulips, Copal astragalus, Herder's kahris, Vitaly's catchment.
Most of the park's plants have usefulproperties. And many are forage for wild animals. Fruits and seeds are eaten by rodents and birds, and pagons are ungulates. The Oriental feather grass, bush curly, white-ground wormwood and others are especially valuable. There are medicinal plants, honey plants, essential oil plants.
The insects alone in the reserve number over 5,000 species. Of these, 25 species are listed in the Red Book. These are grasshoppers, praying mantis, dragonflies, beetles, etc.
Park vertebrates are enoughvaried. In the Kapchagai reservoir there are twenty species of fish, three of which are endemics. The reptiles of the reserve are represented by 25 species: the shield-mord, the Alai gologlaz, the patterned snake, the steppe agama, the arrow-snake and others.
Of the two hundred birds that live here, nest onthe territory of the protected zone 174, and 18 are listed in the Red Book: white-eyed blacken, black stork, gray crane, golden eagle, serpent eagle, bearded man, brown pigeon, owl, saj, bustard, brown pigeon.
На территории Алтын-Эмель насчитывается более seventy mammals, among which there are seven endangered species: dressing, red marten, otter, snow leopard, Tien Shan mountain sheep, kulan. The reserve has the largest populations of mountain goats, gazelles, snow leopards. Even there are artiodactyls - roe deer, saigas, wild boars, argali.
On the territory of the reserve in the crevices of the rocksPartridge kekliki live. These are beautiful, elegant birds that enliven the desert landscape of the mountains. They are very mobile and quickly scurry about the stones, running from the brighter to the brighter, while they cry out loud, making a many-voiced noise. Keklik, as a rule, very rarely fly, they simply flit from stone to stone, jumping over obstacles. If you scare them, they sharply flutter and then plan over the cleft, thus trying to escape from persecution.
Indispensable inhabitants of these local aremountain swallows. And on the sheer walls of the rocks there are occasionally stenolazes, these are beautiful birds, fluttering like butterflies. Fluttering crimson-black wings, they look like exotic moths.
And the Himalayan vulture lives very high in the mountains.He is also called Kumay 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 there are very different natural objects, ranging from desert plains to mountains.
In the national park, the efforts of its employees have preserved all the diversity of inanimate and living nature.
Currently, the national park is activelyaccepts tour groups on its territory. And the duration of the trip can be very different. The shortest trip is one day. However, to see all the sights, you need to spend much more time.
The value of the reserve for Kazakhstan is very high,because here are engaged in the preservation of endangered mammals. In addition, the park has long been a proving ground for active work on the preservation of the fauna of these places. Thanks to active security measures and the fight against poachers, gazelles roam the reserve without fear. In the middle of the XX century there were a couple of dozen of them, and now the largest population lives in the reserve.
В 2003 году положено начало активным работам по restoration of wild horse Przhevalsky in nature, which disappeared in Kazakhstan in the 18th century. However, this project turned out to be quite difficult, since horse breeding is widespread in the country and many horses roam around the reserve, which prevents breeding of pure breed.
