The Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area is a nature reserve in the Gobi Desert, situated in the southwestern part of

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

at the border with China. A similar reserve in the Gobi exists farther to the west - the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area. Both reserves form one unit, the Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area (SPA), which encompasses a total of . Great Gobi A is one of the last refuges for critically endangered animals such as the

wild Bactrian camel The wild Bactrian camel (''Camelus ferus'') is a critically endangered species of camel living in parts of northwestern China and southwestern Mongolia. It is closely related to the Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''). Both are large, doub ...

and the

Gobi bear The Gobi bear (''Ursus arctos gobiensis''), known in Mongolian as the ''Mazaalai'' (), is a subspecies of the brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') that is found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol ...

Location and size

Great Gobi A lies in the southwestern part of Mongolia in an arid region of the Gobi desert. The vegetation is dominated by desert and desert steppe. Great Gobi A is generally drier than Great Gobi B. Together with Great Gobi B, the reserve was established in and has been designated by the United Nations as an international Biosphere Reserve in . With a total area of about it is one of the largest reserves worldwide.Petra Kaczensky, Chris Walzer & Bernd Steinhauer-Burkart: ''Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area - a wild horse refuge''. ECO Nature Edition, Steinhauer-Burkart OHG, 2004. The headquarters for the Great Gobi SPA is situated in Bayantooroi, a settlement about north to the Great Gobi A reserve.

Climate

The Climate is extremely "continental". Temperatures in the Gobi can fall to in winter and rise to in the summer. With an average yearly rainfall of about {{{convert, 100, mm, abbr=on, the climate is extremely arid.

Fauna

The reserve is an important refuge for some endangered large mammal species, such as the

(''Camelus ferus''), which was identified as a separate species in 2008 by the Veterinary University of Vienna, the

(''Ursus arctos gobiensis''), the

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus '' Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is es ...

(''Uncia uncia''), the argali wild sheep (''Ovis ammon'') and the

Mongolian wild ass The Mongolian wild ass (''Equus hemionus hemionus''), also known as Mongolian khulan, is the nominate subspecies of the onager. It is found in southern Mongolia and northern China. It was previously found in eastern Kazakhstan and southern Siberi ...

(''Equus hemionus hemionus''). Especially for the wild camel the reserve is important, since it is one of three last locations, where the rare animal can be found. Due to the remoteness and large size of the reserve, it is hard to estimate population numbers or population trends. Estimates for the population of wild camels in the reserve range from about 350 to 1950 individuals.

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

(''Canis lupus''), which are also found in the reserve, might be a threat for the calves of wild camels. However, the effects of these predators on the camel population are unclear.Chris Walzer & Petra Kaczensky: ''Wild camel training and collaring Twenty km from the reserve is the wild camel breeding centre at Zakhyn Us, which was established in 2004 with 12 wild camels which had been caught by Mongolian herdsmen. There were 22 wild camels at the breeding centre in 2014 and in 2013 two bull wild camels were released into the reserve with satellite collars. One of them has formed his own herd with five female wild camels. The breeding centre which is financed by the Wild Camel Protection Foundation and administered by the Director of Gobi "A" covers {{{convert, 40, ha.WCPF Newsletter 33 In 2008 the Veterinary University of Vienna confirmed after extensive DNA testing that the wild camel is a new and separate species which separated from any other known camel species over 750,000 years ago."Hare":'WCPF Newsletter 28Final report for UNDP for the short-term international expert contracts, 200
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References

{{Reflist {{Authority control Protected areas of Mongolia Gobi Desert Nature reserves