Reserves of Almaty. Presentation on the topic "Almaty Reserve" Almaty State Reserve

Alakol State nature reserve created to preserve the unique flora in the Tenek River delta, as well as the population of certain species of animals and colonial birds. This natural object was established in April 1998 by a decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The reserve, by territory, covers the Alakol district of the Almaty region and the Ujar district of the East Kazakhstan region. It was due to the latter that the area of ​​​​the object was expanded to almost 66,000 hectares in October 2000. Thus, two significant natural areas: Alakol lake and Tenek river. There are about 270 specimens of rare flora in the Alakol Reserve, including phytoplankton and 33 species of rare mammals, including fox, ferret, wolf, ermine, weasel, eared hedgehog, red-cheeked ground squirrel, mole voles, large jerboas and 263 species of birds. The real symbol of the protected natural object is the relic gull, whose population is threatened with complete extinction.

Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve

Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve is the first natural site in Kazakhstan, created to protect the unique flora and fauna Central Asia. The reserve covers the territory from the western part of the Tien Shan to the spurs of the Talas Altau and the Ugam Range.

The decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the Kazakh ASSR, issued in July 1926, became the basis for the organization of the protected natural object "Aksu-Zhabagly Reserve". Initially, an area of ​​30 hectares was allocated for the reserve, but over time it expanded to almost 132,000 hectares. Today, more than 50 species of mammals, about 270 species of birds, mammals and amphibians live in the Aksu-Zhabagly Reserve. Here you can admire the variety of rare mosses, lichens, fungi and algae that grow up to 4238 km above sea level.

For the comfort of tourists, a guest house with amenities has been created at the reserve, in which there are also three luxury rooms. Walks along river valleys and mountain peaks can be carried out both as part of a group and independently, accompanied by a guide.

Almaty State Nature Reserve

Almaty nature reserve

The reserve was organized in May 1931 in the basin of the river. Malaya Almatinka on an area of ​​about 13,000 hectares. Already by 1935, the territory of the reserve was more than 600,000 hectares. In February 1935, the reserve was given the status of a state reserve, and over the next 5 years, its area reached almost 1 million hectares. The entire Trans-Ili Alatau, the adjacent semi-desert territory up to the river. Or the deserted mountain ranges of Turaigyr, Boguty and Syugaty. The northern slope of the Zailiysky Alatau was covered with magnificent coniferous and deciduous forests, and along the left bank of the Ili stretched a huge array of saxaul trees. The floristic composition included more than 1500 species. In the post-war years, a gradual reduction in protected areas began. In September 1951, the final liquidation of the reserve took place, which shared the sad fate of many reserves in the country in those years.

The question of its restoration was raised by a group of scientists and public figures Kazakhstan, and in January 1960 it was restored. The reserve is located in the central part of the Zailiysky Alatau on an area of ​​73,325 hectares, 25 km east of the southern capital of Kazakhstan, Almaty, in the Talgar district of the Almaty region.

From 1966 to 1983, the reserve included the Kalkany tract with a unique natural monument "The Singing Dune". natural park Altyn-Emel.

The main part of the protected area, about three quarters, is located on the northern slope of the Zailiysky Alatau. The border of the protected area is bordered by a two-kilometer protected zone.

Altitudinal zonation. characteristic feature slopes of the Trans-Ili Alatau is the altitudinal zonality. A number of belts or zones are distinguished on the territory of the reserve.

The belt of deciduous-mixed forest occupies heights from 1200 to 1600 m above sea level. Forest-forming species are represented by the Sievers apple tree, common apricot, three species of hawthorn, bird cherry, aspen, Tien Shan birch, Talas poplar, several species of willow and individual Schrenk spruce trees. Of the shrubs, there are wild roses - dog, loose and Alberta, several types of honeysuckle, Semyonov's spindle tree, barberry and curlew. Coniferous forests are represented by one species - Schrenk spruce. At the upper border there are thickets of junipers - Siberian, Cossack and false Cossack.

The subalpine belt in the basin of the Right Talgar River is characterized by good sodiness of the slopes. The hilly-morainic bottoms of the valleys are occupied by kobresia-forb subalpine meadows. The northern slopes are covered with forb-cereal meadows with dense herbage. Raw alpine meadows - sazs - are found in flat depressions. The southern slopes at the upper border of the forest are bordered by dense thickets of Turkestan juniper, and the glades are covered with meadow-steppe vegetation, with a predominance of mantle or geranium-mantle associations. Here, various onions, saxifrages, small petals, forget-me-nots, gentians and others grow in abundance. Significant areas of subalpine are occupied by talus and rock outcrops.

The Alpine belt is located at an altitude of 2900 - 3200 m, extending to the foot of modern moraines and glaciers. In the Alpine belt, large areas are occupied by continuous outcrops of rocks and talus. Cobresia meadows predominate in the lower half of the belt, while mixed herb-cobresia lawns dominate in the upper half. The lower areas are occupied by grass-forb meadows, which are distinguished by the variegation of brightly flowering species, such as Bunge chorispora, Altai violet, Alpine thermopsis, lyroleaf sickle leaf, doubtful chamomile, Leman's breakwater, Alatav callianthemum, etc. Alpine steppes are common on the fine-earth slopes of the southern exposure.

Flora. Rich and varied vegetable world reserve. Its flora includes more than 960 species of higher plants. More than 50 species are rare, 28 of which are listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan. The rarest and most original Red Book species are found in the remote highlands of the reserve: Tien Shan Siberian in the upper reaches of the Shilik, completely unusual in appearance Saussurean wrapped in the upper reaches of the Right Talgar and along the outskirts of the Korzhenevsky glacier, cobweb-fluffy and at the same time prickly schmalhausenia on the ancient moraines of Esik and Shilik. In the upper reaches of the Esik, for the first time, such rare endemics as the glacial parsnip and the Alma-Ata headwort were collected and described. Only in the valley of this river was found the large-fruited and unusually fragrant Yanchevsky currant, on the meadow slopes of the Right Talgar River - the Kumbel hawk, in the valley of the Middle Talgar and the upper reaches of the Shilik - the original Veronica Alatavskaya with snow-white flowers. The group of forage plants is extensive, including cereals (creeping wheatgrass, Turkestan barley, awnless bonfire, meadow foxtail, fescue, bluegrass, cocksfoot), sedges, legumes (species of alfalfa, clover, peas, ranks) and others. Of the food, the most significant are wild fruit and berries: apple trees, apricots, barberries, Meyer currants, Tien Shan mountain ash, hawthorns, stone berries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, sea buckthorn. Found everywhere medicinal plants: horsetail, hops, wild roses, Ural licorice, laxative joster, St. Plants such as clematis codonopsis, narrow-leaved willowherb, Dzungarian wrestler, celandine, Ili larkspur, etc., are tested folk remedies. From early spring landscapes of the reserve are decorated with ornamental plants. Alatau saffron and goose onions are the first to open, a little later - tulips, Albert's iris, eremurus - powerful and Altai, intermediate peony, Tatar ixiolirion. In early summer, bright orange bathing suits, yellow buttercups, white anemones, colorful violets, blue forget-me-nots, dark purple columbs bloom. They are replaced by later-flowering asters, small petals, gentians, hawks. This riot of colors continues until the end of summer, and in the alpine zone, near the melting snowfields, until the very winter.

Fauna. Animal world the reserve is very rich. When visiting the reserve, first of all, you pay attention to bright diurnal butterflies, of which there are at least 135 species. The fauna of vertebrates includes 230 species, including: 3 species of fish, 2 - amphibians, 6 - reptiles, 177 - birds and 39 - mammals.

Of the reptiles, the common lizard is the Alai gologlaz and poisonous snake- muzzle, which are found up to the alpine belt. The patterned snake lives in the lower and middle mountain zones.

Bluebirds, common and brown dippers nest near turbulent rivers and streams. Most birds nest in forest biotopes. Wood pigeon, splyushka, spotted woodpecker, black-fronted shrike prefer deciduous forests. The bearded vulture and the shahin nest in the rocks of the spruce belt. The rocks of the alpine belt are inhabited by kumai, gray and rocky pigeons, chough and alpine jackdaw. Of the birds listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan, golden eagle, bearded vulture, kumai, shahin, eagle owl, sickle beak and blue bird nest in the reserve. The black stork and the pygmy eagle are sometimes seen in summer.

The complex mountainous relief, the exceptional diversity of the microclimate and vegetation cover also affect the distribution of mammals. Among large-stone screes along rivers and streams lives stone marten. Its main prey is mouse-like rodents, but in autumn, the fruits of mountain ash, hawthorn, and apple trees are not uncommon in its diet. More than ten species of animals live in the forest belt. The badger arranges holes under bushes and trees. In spring, it feeds mainly on beetles, which it eats in large quantities, in summer it switches to plant foods - berries and fruits. Often destroys bird nests, eating their contents. Roe deer are most often found in the lower and middle parts of the mountains, and deer, on the contrary, are found at the upper border of spruce forests and in juniper forests of the subalpine belt. The bear lives in spruce forests and subalpine meadows, but in autumn it descends and feeds mainly on wild apples. In the middle of the last century in spruce forests the teleut squirrel was acclimatized, which has now become normal view. Lynx is found on the northern slopes of the forest belt, the main prey of which is roe deer, tolai hares, black grouse and other species of animals and birds. In the subalpine and alpine zones, colonies of gray marmots are not uncommon. Numerous mountain goats- typical inhabitants of the highlands. In summer they stay at the very edge of snowfields and glaciers among stone placers, in winter they descend into the forest belt, where they stick to the southern slopes with little snow. Descend after them Snow leopards, which mainly prey on these ungulates.

The Almaty Reserve has a difficult history. It was created on May 15, 1931 as Malo-Alma-Ata with an area of ​​15 thousand hectares. In 1935, after increasing its area to 40 thousand hectares, and then to 856,680 hectares, it became known as Alma-Ata and, in addition to the Malaya Alma-Atinka basin, already included the Zhalanash and Sogetinskaya valleys with adjacent mountains. However, in 1939, the transfer of individual sections of its territory began various organizations, and in 1951 the reserve was liquidated. Only on July 31, 1961, by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR No. 524, the reserve was restored, but already on the territory of the Chilik, Tabankaragay and Tauchilik forest dachas. Three years later, in 1964, it was transferred to the modern territory - to the basin of the Issyk and Talgar rivers. Currently, the reserve covers an area of ​​71,700 hectares. The central estate is located in Talgar, 25 km from Almaty. The main purpose of the reserve is to preserve natural complexes the central part of the Zailiysky Alatau, including objects of the animal and plant world, as well as the study of the patterns of natural development of these complexes. The Zailiysky Alatau Ridge is the location of the reserve, located in the north mountain system Tien Shan. In its central part, it forms the Talgar mountain junction, where it reaches maximum height(Peak Talgar - 4979 m above sea level). In the protected area, several powerful spurs branch off from the main ridge of the Zailiysky Alatau, which are the watersheds of the rivers. The most abundant rivers are the South-Eastern, Left, Middle and Right Talgars, as well as Issyk and Southern Issyk. With relatively shallow depth(up to 1 m) and width (from 5 to 10 m), their rapid flow is due to a large elevation difference. The energy of water is so great that monolithic rocks are ground, crushed and ground into sand, giving way to its powerful onslaught. upper reaches major rivers, originating in glaciers, enliven moraine and dammed lakes. Most large lake Muzkol is located in the upper reaches of the river. Issyk (3600 m above sea level), its area is 46,300 m², and the depth is 25.5 m. In the basin of this river there are two lakes of landslide-tectonic origin - Issyk and Akkol. The most beautiful Lake Issyk existed in its original form until 1963. On a hot July day, a destructive mudflow broke through a natural dam in a matter of minutes and wiped out a picturesque mountain miracle from the “face” of the earth. There are many others in the reserve. unique creations nature. In the upper reaches of the Pryamaya Shchel tract, there is the largest glacier in the Northern Tien Shan, about 3.5 km long. It moves at a speed of several tens of centimeters per year and has the lowest location (2400 m above sea level) among the active glaciers in the region. There are in the reserve and thermal springs, for example, in the zone of underground faults of the river basin. Talgar (1850 m above sea level). The waters of the springs are radon and sodium. Big variety natural conditions the territory of the reserve is due primarily to a clearly defined altitudinal zonality. Landscapes of low mountains are presented in the range of altitudes from 1200 to 1800 m above sea level. On the northern slopes, deciduous forests of birch, aspen, apple and apricot alternate with tall grass meadows and thickets of shrubs. The soils are mountain-forest and mountain-steppe, stony in places. The southern slopes are dominated by grass-forb steppes on mountain leached chernozems, as well as shrub thickets with the participation of meadowsweet, wild rose, honeysuckle and creeping Cossack juniper. The middle mountains (up to 2800 m) occupy the forest-meadow-steppe belt. On the northern slopes and areas with a deeply dissected relief, dense islands of Schrenk spruce forests are common - an unusually spectacular decoration of the mountains of the reserve in all seasons of the year. The subalpine belt (2700-3100 m) is characterized by good sodiness of the slopes. The hilly-morainic bottoms of the valleys are occupied by kobresia-forb subalpine meadows. The northern slopes are covered with forb-cereal meadows with dense herbage. Raw alpine meadows - sazs - are found in flat depressions. The Alpine belt extends to the foot of modern moraines and glaciers (3400 m). Cobresia meadows predominate in the lower half of the belt, while mixed herb-cobresia lawns predominate in the upper half. The lower areas are occupied by grass-forb meadows, which are distinguished by the diversity of brightly flowering species. The soils under these meadows are thin, peaty, sometimes slightly waterlogged. Alpine steppes are widespread on the fine-earth slopes of the southern exposure. The soils of such areas are heavily gravel from the very surface. top mountains are occupied by a glacial-nival zone, where two altitudinal belts. In the nival (3400-3900 m) rocky-scree landscapes with sparse herbaceous vegetation dominate. Glacial belt (above 3900 m) - a belt of rocks, snow and ice. Flora of the Almaty Reserve The flora of the reserve is rich and diverse. Its flora includes about 1100 species of higher plants. More than 50 species are rare, 26 of which are listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan. In the lower belt of mountains - this is an apricot, Mushketov's curlew, Sievers' apple tree, extremely rarely Nedzvetsky's apple tree, Caucasian carcass, Altai gymnospermium. On the steppe of other southern slopes, there are tulips of Kolpakovsky and Ostrovsky, very rarely Albert's iris and Kolpakovsky's iridodictium. In the middle belt, Wittrock's rhubarb is common, Semenov's corydalis, orange jaundice, Alma-Ata arthropod, Adonis - golden and Tien Shan, Semenov's cortuza are very rare. But the rarest and most original Red Book species are found in the hard-to-reach highlands of the reserve: Siberian Tien Shan in the upper reaches of Chilik, completely unusual in appearance Saussurean wrapped in the vicinity of Lake Bozkul and along the outskirts of the Korzhenevsky and Constitution glaciers, cobweb-fluffy and at the same time prickly schmalhausenia on the ancient moraines of Issyk and Chilik. In the upper reaches of the Issyk, for the first time, such rare endemics as the glacial parsnip and the Alma-Ata headwort were collected and described. Only in the valley of this river was found the large-fruited and unusually fragrant Yanchevsky currant, on the meadow slopes of the river. Right Talgar - hawk Kumbel, in the valley of the Middle Talgar and the upper reaches of Chilik - the original Veronica Alatau with snow-white flowers. Of the food, the most significant are wild fruit and berries: apple trees, apricots, barberries, Meyer currants, Tien Shan mountain ash, hawthorns, stone berries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, sea buckthorn. Medicinal plants are found everywhere: horsetail, hops, wild roses, Ural licorice, laxative joster, St. Plants such as clematis codonopsis, narrow-leaved willowherb, Dzungarian wrestler, celandine, Ili larkspur, etc., are proven folk remedies. Fauna of the Almaty Reserve The fauna of the reserve is very rich. The number of invertebrate species is unknown, but huge species diversity they are obvious: to date, about 2000 species from 8 classes have already been identified. When visiting the reserve, first of all, you pay attention to bright diurnal butterflies, of which at least 135 species live here: from the largest sailboats to small pigeons. The composition of some other groups of insects has been partly determined. So, from the order of beetles, 252 species of ground beetles, 102 species of leaf beetles are known; from Hymenoptera - 110 species of bees, 33 species of ants, 97 species of burrowing wasps. It is safe to predict the presence of at least 6 thousand species of insects in the reserve. Of all this diversity, only 12 species are included in the Red Book of Kazakhstan. These are dragonflies - a conspicuous mace-belly, a patrol-emperor, a beautiful girl; orthopterous - steppe dybka; Homoptera - Jacobson's nose; beetles - Semenov's beauty, two-spotted chylocorus, dotted ladybird, large root beetle; daytime sailing butterflies - bedromius and patrician, Ershov's jaundice and Tatyana's blueberry. Of the other invertebrates, 4 species of gastropods are included in the Red Data Book. The fauna of vertebrates includes 225 species, including: 3 species of fish, 2 - amphibians, 6 - reptiles, 172 - birds and 42 - mammals. In the waters of the Chilik River within the boundaries of the reserve, there are Strauch char, naked and scaly osmans - all 3 species of fish. The green toad is found everywhere, and in the protected zone (Talgar and Issyk basins) - the lake frog. Of the reptiles, the common lizard is the Alai bald-eye and the poisonous snake is the muzzle, which are found up to the Alpine belt. The patterned snake lives in the lower and middle mountain zones. Here, but only on the southern slopes, you can occasionally see steppe viper, and near stagnant reservoirs - ordinary and water snakes. The distribution of birds throughout the reserve is closely related to environmental conditions nesting. Bluebirds, common and brown dippers nest near turbulent rivers and streams, sandpipers (sicklebill and carrier) nest on gentle pebbles, masked and mountain wagtails nest under boulders, snags and in cliff niches, and black-backed yellow-headed wagtail nests in swampy areas overgrown with myricaria and maned caragana. Nests of quail, corncrake and common cricket were noted in tall grass meadows of the forest belt. The black-headed coinage prefers the southern settled areas. The meadows of the upper belts with juniper bushes and outcrops of stones are occupied by the mountain pipit, Himalayan curler and Himalayan finches. The common wheatear builds its dwellings in alpine meadows next to gray marmot colonies and quite often in their abandoned burrows. Birds of bush thickets are represented by: gray warbler, common lentil, red-backed redstart, black-breasted rubythroat, painted titmouse and others. Most birds nest in forest biotopes. Ten species of birds of the reserve are listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan. Six of them (golden eagle, bearded vulture, kumai, shahin, sickle beak, bluebird) nest here, three (black stork, dwarf eagle, eagle owl) meet periodically in summer, and peregrine falcon flies in winter. The complex mountainous relief, the exceptional diversity of the microclimate and vegetation cover also affect the distribution of mammals. Stone marten lives among large scree along rivers and streams. Its main prey is mouse-like rodents, but in autumn, the fruits of mountain ash, hawthorn, and apple trees are not uncommon in its diet. More than ten species of animals live in the forest belt. The badger arranges holes under bushes and trees. In spring, it feeds mainly on beetles, which it eats in large quantities, in summer it switches to plant foods - berries and fruits. Often destroys bird nests, eating their contents. Roe deer are most often found in the lower and middle parts of the mountains, and deer, on the contrary, are found at the upper border of spruce forests and in juniper forests of the subalpine belt. The bear lives in spruce forests and subalpine meadows, but in autumn it descends and feeds mainly on wild apples. In the middle of the last century, a teleut squirrel was acclimatized in spruce forests, which has now become a common species, and, according to some foresters, greatly harms the renewal of spruce forests. At the lower border of spruce forests and in fruit forests there are numerous forest dormouse. On the northern slopes of the forest belt there is a lynx, the main prey of which is roe deer, tolai hares, black grouse and other species of animals and birds. In the subalpine and alpine zones, colonies of gray marmots are not uncommon. In early spring, the animals come out of their holes after hibernation and intensively accumulate fat in order to lie down for 7-8 months in the next hibernation. Mountain goats are numerous and are typical inhabitants of the highlands. In summer they stay at the very edge of snowfields and glaciers among stone placers, in winter they descend into the forest belt, where they stick to the southern slopes with little snow. Following them, snow leopards descend, which mainly hunt these ungulates.

Active rest in the reserves of Kazakhstan.

“No matter how much we believe in the mercy of the nature-creator,
If in the spring world, bounty without end,
If our cattle are fat, if there is plenty of food,
If people's hearts beat joyfully

Abay Kunanbaev.

Tours in the Almaty reserve.

Almaty state reserve was organized in May 1931 where in the river basin Malaya Alma-Atinka on an area of ​​about 13,000 hectares. Already by 1935, the territory of the reserve was more than 600,000 hectares.
In February 1935, the reserve was given the status of a state reserve, and over the next 5 years its area reached almost 1 million hectares. Location, area size and accessibility.
The reserve is located in the southeast Kazakhstan, in the central part of the ridge Zailiyskiy Alatau, which is the northernmost chain. The main part of the protected area, approximately three quarters, is located on the northern macroslope of the ridge in the basins of the Talgar and Chilik rivers.
The western border of the territory runs along River Left Talgar, northern - by river Right Talgar, and the eastern one - along the crest of a high spur dividing the river valleys Esik and Turgen.
The length of the border of the reserve from west to east in a straight line is more than 32 km.
The rest of the border - the southern one - passes near the Toguzak pass and through glacier Bogatyr, upstream Chilik river to the spur between the rivers Kosbulak-2 and Tamchy. Here is the rest - a smaller part of the reserve, it presents the southern high-mountain slopes of the Zailiysky Alatau.
The protected area is within 1500 - 4979 m above sea level. Except for herself high peak Zailiysky Alatau - Peak Talgar 4973 meters above sea level, in the reserve 4 more peaks exceed 4500 meters above sea level, these are peaks - Aktau 4686 meters above sea level, Korp 4631 meters above sea level, Bogatyr 4626 meters above sea level and Metallurg 4600 meters above sea level. The main crest of the ridge within the reserve does not fall below 4200 m above sea level.
Administratively, the reserve is located on the territory Talgar and Enbekshi-Kazakh districts of Almaty region, Republic of Kazakhstan. Geographical coordinates of the central part of the protected area - 42 96 "05" - 77 22 "33"".
The area of ​​the protected area is 71,700 ha. Around the border of the reserve, a 2-kilometer Ile-Alatau State National Natural Park.
The territory of the reserve is divided into two sections: Talgar with an area of ​​40652 hectares (105 quarters), Esiksky with an area of ​​31,048 hectares (36 blocks). A total of 14 inspection rounds. The central estate of the reserve is located in city ​​of Talgar, 25 km from the southern capital of Kazakhstan, Almaty.
Almaty has an international airport, railway and bus stations. Travel to the estate of the reserve from the city of Almaty at any time of the year will take less than an hour. At the central estate there is a "Museum of Nature", where the reserve's excursion service demonstrates the natural components of the protected area (collections of animals, plants, mountain minerals, etc.), and conducts educational environmental and environmental activities.
At the entrance to the Talgar site, a checkpoint is installed, there is telephone and radio communication with the central estate of the reserve. The duty at the checkpoint is carried out according to the approved schedule, around the clock. Most of the winter, and especially in early spring (March, April), the territory of the reserve is at risk of avalanches, and in summer, during the intensive melting of glaciers and, therefore, summer floods on mountain rivers there is a risk of mudflows and landslides.
The largest mudflows usually occur in July (1963 and 1979). During these periods, visiting the reserve for any purpose is terminated. The entire Trans-Ili Alatau, the adjacent semi-desert territory up to the river. Or deserted mountain ranges Turaigyr, Boguty and Syugaty.
The northern slope of the Trans-Ili Alatau was covered with magnificent coniferous and deciduous forests, and a huge array of saxaul forests stretched along the left bank of the Ili. The floristic composition included more than 1500 species. Many birds and animals lived in the protected areas; only in Syugatinskaya valley flocks of goitered gazelles wandered, now brought into Red Book of Kazakhstan.
In the post-war years, a gradual reduction in protected areas began. First, forest areas were seized, then hayfields and other lands. In September 1951, the final liquidation of the reserve took place, which shared the sad fate of many reserves in the country in those years.
The main part of the protected area - about three quarters - is located on the northern slope of the Zailiysky Alatau. The western border of this part runs along the river. Left Talgar, northern - along the river Right Talgar, and eastern - along the crest of a high spur that separates the valleys of the Issyk and Turgen rivers.
The length of this part from west to east is more than 32 km in a straight line. The rest of the territory is located on the southern slope Zailiyskiy Alatau. The border of the protected area is bordered by a two-kilometer protected zone.
But there is in the guise of the reserve and its own, inimitable, unique. The slopes of the mountains, crowned with a powerful ridge of peaks covered with ice and snow, in sharp contrast with the foothill deserts, irresistibly attract to themselves in all seasons.
Within the reserve, the main ridge of the Zailiysky Alatau reaches its greatest height and does not fall below 4200 meters above sea level. It is here that most of peaks of the ridge, having a height of more than 4500 m.
Impressive peak Talgar - highest point the entire ridge, well distinguishable even from the piedmont plain for many tens of kilometers. The peaks, "headed" by the Talgar peak, form a powerful Talgar knot, which occupies the entire middle part of the reserve.
This is one of the centers of modern glaciation of the Trans-Ili Alatau, the largest glaciers of the Northern Tien Shan are concentrated here: the Korzhenevsky and Bogatyr glaciers. The first reaches a length of 11 km and has an area of ​​38 km.
The second one is slightly inferior to it: length - 9.1 km, area - 30.3 km. Almost as wide glaciers of Shokalsky, Grigoriev, Kassin, Palgov, Kalesnik etc. Unique Talgar mountain knot widely known among the country's climbers.
For more than 40 years, the alpine camp of the allied significance "Talgar" operated here. In 1979 it was destroyed by a mudflow. In the upper reaches of the Issyk gorge there are two high-altitude moraine lakes - Ak-Kol (White), lying at an altitude of 3140 m, and Muz Kol(Ice) 3400 m.
Glaciers sparkle blindingly - Zharsay, Palgova, Grigorieva and others. The Talgar section includes three gorges - Left, Right and Middle Talgar. The longest of them - Left Talgar (more than 30 km) - has, like most others, a direction from south to north.
On the southern slope of the Zailiyskiy Alatau, there are protected gorges of the South-Eastern Talgar, Southern Issyk and a number of other smaller gorges ( Gubar, Kosbulak, Tamchi). The reserve is characterized by a wide development of modern glaciation.
Only in the pool Issyk river there are 49 glaciers (with an area of ​​53 square kilometers). In total, there are 160 glaciers in the reserve (with with total area 233.7 km") out of 466 known in the Zailiysky Alatau. The river network is well developed.
At the bottom of most gorges flow quite stormy rivers 5 - 7 m wide, up to 1 m deep; many keys. In the northern part of the territory, the largest (from 16 to 28 km long) rivers are Issyk, Left Talgar, Right Talgar and Middle Talgar.
In the southern part, the South-East Talgar (13 km), which originates from the Bogatyr glacier, and the South Issyk (10 km) flowing into it, flowing from the Korzhenevsky glacier, stand out noticeably. Both rivers are very full-flowing, especially in the warm season. South-Eastern Talgar and Zhangyryk, merging, give rise to the river. Chilik - the largest in the Northern Tien Shan.
Chilik 10 - 12 km flows along the border of the reserve. The rivers are fed mainly by the seasonal melting of snow, firn fields and glaciers. The flood period begins in April and lasts throughout the spring and summer.
Water flow reaches in July - August 12 - 15 cubic meters per second or more. On some hot days, as well as after heavy rains, the rivers turn into roaring frantic streams that destroy the banks and carry large stones, gravel and sand.
In winter, the rivers are shallow, do not freeze, but on bends and turns they form powerful ice, and in narrow places - arched cornices of ice and snow between the banks. There are almost three dozen small (from 0.1 to 3.8 hectares) high-altitude moraine and glacial lakes in the reserve.
All of them lie in the beds of temporary streams and feed mainly melt waters. These lakes are usually very deep and store significant volumes of water.

Sources:
Ishkov E.Reserves of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2006. Under the general editorship of Roman Yashchenko. International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN - TheWorldconservationUnion. Physical and geographical features (according to Kerteshev, Vagapov, Yashchenko, 2001).Reserves of the USSR. Reserves of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Moscow "Thought", 1990

Photo
Alexander Petrov, Sergei Mikhalkov.