Ile-Alatau National Park

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

About Park

Ile-Alatau State National Natural Park (in Kazakh Іле Алатауы мемлекеттік ұлттық табиғи паркі) was established by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan of February 22, 1996 on the basis of the Kaskelen, Prigorodny and Turgen forestry enterprises within the Karasai, Talgar and Yenbekshikazakh districts of Alma-Ata region. The purpose of its creation is to preserve unique landscapes, flora and fauna, improve conditions for tourism and recreation, develop and implement scientific methods of conservation of natural complexes in conditions of recreational use.
The area of the national park is 199,621 hectares, it is located south of Alma-Ata city on the northern macro slope of the Zailiyskiy Alatau (Tien Shan). The length of its territory from the Chemolgan River in the west to the Turgen River in the east is 120 km, and the width is 30-35 km.

Location

Almaty region. Karasai district
Talgar district
Yenbekshikazakh district
Almaty

43.0400″ N. 77.1000″ E.

Geography

The territory of the park occupies the central part of the Zailiyskiy Alatau with a very difficult terrain. From under the mountain valleys, it can be seen that many second-order island ridges separating the main river basins depart from the main watershed ridge. The last ridges branch out and create a system of spurs of smaller orders. This morphological structure determines the direction of the main rivers flowing down from the northern slope. They refer to the Ili River basin. However, most of them, having reached the plain, are soon lost in sediments, and the main part of the runoff is spent by a person for communal, technical and agricultural needs.

Flora

The mountains of the Zailiyskiy Alatau, as well as the entire Northern Tien Shan, within which the national park is located, are distinguished by the richness and diversity of the flora. The study of the species composition of the flora of this specially protected natural area is still far from completion, but it is already known that about 2000 plant species are found here.
The territory of Ile-Alatau is rich in ether–bearing plants. These are primarily ziziphora, kinds of thyme, of, as they called, «creeping thyme», nepeta nuda, entire-leaved dragonhead, as well as common tansy, fascicular pyrethrum, different types of sagebrush.
The flora of mountain gorges and honey plants is no less rich. Mountain honey collected in the apiaries of the Tien Shan is especially popular among the residents of our country. Apart from common hardy-shrub species (apple, apricot, Tien Shan mountain ash, hawthorns, cotoneaster, pea shrubs), perennial herbs, such as origanum, Phlomis oreophila, white nettle (Lamium album), yellow bedstraw (Galium verum), leafy betony, desert sage and others, are good honey plants as well.
In the middle belt firs with grass stands are often found for which little orchid is typical, – creeping hudaier, upright geranium and specimens of Grushankoviy family – monochromatic, orteal, little pear-tree. In natural boundary of Chynturgan, dense close fir plantations with strong mossy cover up to 60 sm high, closing a deep layer in spring frozen earth are developed on the steep slopes. In terms of the structure and composition of the flora they are similar to green strong Siberian Taiga and Ural, thus are protected in a status of monument of nature.

Fauna

The natural conditions of the National Park is much diversified, so that a great number of animal species can exist here.

The vertebrate animal world includes about 270 species and subspecies of animals – 48 species of mammals, over 200 species of bird, 8 – reptiles, 4 – amphibians and 8 species of fish. The animals of the National Park inhabit in various conditions: from foothills and woodlands up to Alpine belt, on cliffs and glaciers, as well as in water reservoirs and in settlements.

Mammals:
eared hedgehog and Eurasian pygmy shrew are typical in the foothills; along the water streams a rare species – Eurasian water shrew can be found. There is a great number of mouse-like rodent species, as well as wolves, foxes, roes, jackals, badgers, tolai hares, small weasels – a weasel and ermine. In the forest belt hoofed animals can be often found like wild boar, Siberian red deer, Siberian roe deer, some rodents can be seen here – squirrel, forest dormouse, Tien Shan red-backed mouse, tolai hare Siberian red deer inhabits in fir forests, in separate seasons of the year they go up to juniper stands in the highlands, also goes down to deciduous woodlands. Siberian roe deer inhabits everywhere in woodlands, including shrub thickets of low mountains. In the Alpine zone there are Siberian ibex, argali, rocky white-toothed shrew and Turkestan red pika.
Wild boars can virtually be met throughout the territory of the park; in autumn they go to wild fruit woodlands for feeding. They migrate greatly searching for feed. Foxes inhabit in all the landscape and geographical areas of the park, ranging from forests to steppes, including mountains. Badgers are widely represented all over the area of the park, inhabiting in various landscapes. They feed on both plant products and animal food, and hibernate during winter. Tolai hares are of little size and weight (1.5-2 kg), and inhabit deserts and foothills. Bats can virtually be found in any part of the park: common serotine, common noctule, grey long-eared bat and lesser mouse-eared bat.

Birds:
During nesting and reproduction over 130 species of birds gather in the park. Not less than the half of bird species are mountain birds, at that the inhabitation of birds are adapted to certain altitudinal belts.
In the foothills, at altitudes of 1100-1200 meters above sea level, among the steeps, ravines and gullies overgrown with thickets of shrubs and weeds, in holes rollers, common bee-eaters and hoopoes are nesting. Besides, common jackdaws, grackles and Acridotheres tristis are numerous. Indian sparrows settle colonies on trees. Pheasants, gray and bearded partridges inhabit thickets of shrubs and high grasses. In the foothills, not less than 76 species of birds can be found in the summertime.
Coniferous woods at altitudes of 2700-2800 meters above sea level are inhabited mainly by taiga birds, such as nutcrackers, goldcrests, common crossbills, wrens, owls - scops-owl and boreal owl. In the hollows of trees coal titmouses and Chinese willow tits make nests; in lower parts of the foothills big titmouses inhabit. In the trunks of old trees three-fingered woodpeckers inhabit, in the lower parts of the belt – big motley woodpeckers are met. A total of 17 species of birds make nests in softwood forests of the park.
In the Alpine belt at altitudes of 3000-3600 meters above sea level, among the rocks and alpine meadows, even in summer, fir fields, that is, areas of old, packed snow, come across. The inhabitants of this area are connected with the rocks. These are the bearded vulture, chough, Alpine chough, crow, Himalayan snow cock, Giildenstadt’s redstart, wallcreeper, Alpine accentor, red-breasted rose and Brandt’s rosy finches.

Reptiles & amphibians:
Within the territory of the park there are relatively few reptiles, amphibians and fish, that is due to harsh mountain living conditions.
Reptiles number only 8 species, amphibians – 4 species, fish - 8 species. All of them are adapted to comparatively harsh living conditions compared with the plain – short continuality of a light day and comparatively low temperature of air and water. From reptiles the most typical are: Dione snake, sand lizard, Alay lidless skink and copperhead snake; from amphibians – Pevtsov’s toad andlake frog, from fish – scaleless osman and scaled osman, rainbow trout.

Climate

The climate in the national park is diverse and differentiated by altitude climatic zones. Summers are warm, winters are mild due to a pronounced inversion of air temperature. In the foothills the average temperature of January is 7.4ºC, and of July is +23ºC. The length of the frost-free period is 181days, annual precipitation is 560 mm. In the Maloalmatinskoye gorge (Medeu stow) at an altitude of 1530 m, the temperature in January is -4.3°C, in July - +18.1°C, the duration of the frost-free period is 145 days, 843 mm of precipitation falls per year. At an altitude of 3035 m (the Mynzhilki stow) in terms of eternal snow and glaciers, the average temperature in January is -11.3°C, in July - +7°C, the duration of the frost-free period is 53 days, 734 mm of precipitation falls per year. In the mountainous part of Zailiyskiy Alatau at an altitude of 3750 m, the climate is harsh, there is a lot of precipitation - 800-1300 mm, mainly in the form of snow. The warm period is very short — the average air temperature on glaciers in summer does not exceed +2.8°C.

Snow cover according to long-term observations in the foothills (850 m) is set on December 6, in the middle mountains (1200-2500 m) - a month earlier, in the highlands (3000 m) — on October 21. In spring, snow falls at different heights and in different mountains from March 10 to May 22. The number of days with snow cover at different altitudes varies from 111 to 236. The height of the snow cover in the foothills is about 30 cm, in the middle mountains and highlands it can reach 100 cm.
Zailiyskiy Alatau stands as a high advanced barrier to the northern and north-western moisture-carrying air masses, which freely penetrate through the main valleys deep into the mountains, causing a clear differentiation of natural landscapes at altitude. The territory of the park covers low-mountain, mid-mountain and high-mountain landscapes, which reflect the tiered structure of the mountains.

+2 °С

-7...-4 °С

560 mm

+23 °С

1,7 m/s

The Red Book

Plants, listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
In the territory of the Ile Alatau National Park 35 species of flowering plants and 2 species of bryophytic plants from the Red Book of the Republic of Kazakhstan can be found. Another 6 species of flowering plants can be also found within the protected area of the Almaty State Integrated Nature Reserve, though they can be identified within the park area, too.

Especially interesting are such endemic species as eutrema pseudocardiophyllous and small-fruited whitlow grass, Pastinacоpsis glacialis, Almaty-based glamorous oxytrope, Almaty-based jurinea, as well as the species which have got decorative qualities and are wild congeners of cultivated plants: Crocus alatavicus, tulip of Ostrovskiy, tulip of Kolpakovskiy, rhubarb of Vittrok, Mushketov’s goat’s-wheat, apple-tree of Siverse, wild apricot, Iris alberti, Saussurea involucrata, Schmalhausenia nidulans, corydalis of Semenov, Gymnospermium altaicum, orange wormseed, Caucasian nettle-tree, Iridodictyum kolpakowskianum and others. All they need protection, further studying and monitoring of population trends

Beauty sights

On the territory of the park there are Kurgan burial mounds of the Early Iron age on the Assy plateau and at the Turgen Gorge, Saka burials along the banks of the Issyk River.
Traces of a strong earthquake that occurred here more than 10 thousand years ago have been found on the right bank of the Turgen River. This detrital strata in the form of rocks of bizarre shape and various colors is a real monument of nature.
Relict moss Chinturgen spruce forests are also a natural monument, where permafrost islands with an ice thickness of 2-3 m have been preserved under the cover of moss at a depth of 30-40 cm. Permafrost arrays located at such a low altitude are not found anywhere else in Zailiyskiy Alatau. The high-mountain landscape is unique, resembling the cold desert of the Inner Tien Shan, which is located along the axial part of the ridge on the Prokhodnoi passage.