Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
provide cover for lynxes, wolves, wild boars and brown bears. Lower
down in the mountains of southern Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
and Turkmenistan are ancient forests of wild walnut, pistachio, juniper,
apricot, cherry and apple. Arslanbob in Kyrgyzstan is home to the world's
largest walnut grove.
The steppes (what's left of them after massive Soviet cultivation
projects) are covered with grasses and low shrubs such as saxaul. Where
they rise to meet foothills, the steppes bear vast fields of wild poppies
and several hundred types of tulip, which burst into beautiful bloom in
May and June.
Roe deer and saiga, a species of antelope, have their homes on the
steppe. The saiga is a slightly ridiculous-looking animal with a huge bul-
bous nose that once roamed in herds 100,000 strong. The ring-necked
pheasant, widely introduced to North America and elsewhere, is native
to the Central Asian steppe, as are partridges, black grouse, bustards,
and the falcons and hawks that prey on them. Korgalzhyn Nature Re-
serve in Kazakhstan is home to the world's most northerly colony of pink
flamingos.
Rivers and lake shores in the flatlands create a different world, with
dense thickets of elm, poplar, reeds and shrubs known as
tugai,
where
wild boar, jackal and deer make their homes. Over 90% of
tugai
environ-
ment along the Amu-Darya has been lost over the years.
In the barren, stony wastes of the Karakum and Kyzylkum you'll need
a sharp eye to catch a glimpse of the goitred gazelle (zheyran). Gophers,
sand rats and jerboas are preyed on by various reptiles, including (in
Turkmenistan) vipers and cobras.
Turkmenistan's wildlife has a Middle Eastern streak, understandable
when you consider that parts of the country are as close to Baghdad as
they are to Tashkent. Leopards and porcupines inhabit the parched hills.
The
zemzen
or
varan
(desert crocodile) is actually a type of large lizard
that can grow up to 1.8m long.
Central Asia has been famed for its horses since Chinese reports of
the 'blood-sweating' horses of Fergana, that Han China needed to fight
the nomadic tribes harassing its northern frontier. Today's most famous
horses are the Akhal-Teke of Turkmenistan, the forefather of the modern
Arab thoroughbred. There are only around 2000 thoroughbred Akhal-
Teke in the world, of which 1200 are in Turkmenistan.
The Aral isn't
the only body of
water drying up.
lake Balkhash
in Kazakhstan,
which gets its
water from the Ili
River, has shrunk
by 1000 sq km
since the 1970s.
For more on
wildlife protection
in Kazakhstan
see the Asso-
ciation for the
Conservation
of Biodiversity
of Kazakhstan
(www.acbk.
kz/en)
Endangered Species
The mountain goose, among other rare species, nests on the shores of
Kyrgyzstan's mountain lakes, but the population has shrunk over the
years to fewer than 15 pairs worldwide.
The marshlands of the Amu-Darya region of Uzbekistan was once
home to the Turan (Caspian) tiger but these became extinct when the
last known survivor was shot in 1972. Wild Bactrian camels, once the
quintessential Silk Road sight, are now only occasionally seen from the
Tajikistan side of the Wakhan Valley.
THE IRBIS
The population of snow leopards in Central Asia and the Russian Altay is etimated at
about 1000, out of a global population of around 7000. These magniicent but secretive
and solitary animals (known locally as
irbis
or
barys
) are a keytone species, keeping
others in balance and check. There are thought to be between 150 and 500 leopards in
Kyrgyztan, with around 200 more each in Kazakhtan and the Pamirs of Tajikitan. Only
5% of these magniicent creatures' habitat is currently protected.
