The Sarychat-Eertash Nature Reserve ( ky, Сарычат-Ээрташ мамлекеттик коругу, russian: Сарычат-Эрташский государственный заповедник) is located in

Issyk-Kul Region Issyk-Kul Region ( ky, Ысык-Көл облусу, Ysyk-Köl oblusu; russian: Иссык-Кульская область, Issyk-Kulskaya oblast) is one of the regions of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is Karakol. It is surrounded by Almaty Region, Kaz ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

. Established in 1995, it currently covers 149,118 hectares. It was established with a purpose of conservation of unique nature complexes, rare and threatened species of flora and fauna of syrt area of Issyk-Kul Region, and maintaining regional environmental balance. Wild Snow Leopard Goes Grocery Shopping

The reserve was founded mainly to protect the endangered

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

, mountain goat and the

argali The argali (''Ovis ammon''), also known as the mountain sheep, is a wild sheep that roams the highlands of western East Asia, the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Altai Mountains. Description The name 'argali' is the Mongolian word for wild sheep. I ...

, a large wild sheep of Central Asia. Other large mammals are

Siberian ibex The Siberian ibex (''Capra sibirica''), also known as the Altai ibex, Central Asia(n) ibex, Gobi ibex, Himalayan ibex, Mongolian ibex or Tian Shan ibex, is a species of ibex that lives in central Asia. It has traditionally been treated as a subs ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

Eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is a medium-sized wild cat widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It inhabits temperate and boreal forests up to an eleva ...

Eurasian wolf The Eurasian wolf (''Canis lupus lupus''), also known as the common wolf,Mech, L. David (1981), ''The Wolf: The Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered Species'', University of Minnesota Press, p. 354, is a subspecies of grey wolf native to Euro ...

and

Eurasian brown bear The Eurasian brown bear (''Ursus arctos arctos'') is one of the most common subspecies of the brown bear, and is found in much of Eurasia. It is also called the European brown bear, common brown bear, common bear, and colloquially by many othe ...

. Smaller and medium-sized mammals, include

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

pallas cat The Pallas's cat (''Otocolobus manul'', also known as the manul, is a small wild Felidae, cat with long and dense light grey fur. Its rounded ears are set low on the sides of the head. Its head-and-body length ranges from with a long bushy tai ...

stone marten The beech marten (''Martes foina''), also known as the stone marten, house marten or white breasted marten, is a species of marten native to much of Europe and Central Asia, though it has established a feral population in North America. It is li ...

, badger,

tolai hare The tolai hare (''Lepus tolai'') is a species of hare native to Central Asia, Mongolia, and Northern and Central China. It inhabits semi-desert, steppes, rocky habitats, and forest meadows. It is relatively common, even in areas with heavy hu ...

and gray marmot. The reserve is excluded of any usage, including tourism.Jennifer L. McCarthy, Kyle P. McCarthy, Todd K. Fuller, and Thomas M. McCarthy (2010). ''Assessing Variation in Wildlife Biodiversity in the Tien Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan Using Ancillary Camera-trap Photos.'' Mountain Research and Development (MRD
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/ref> The nature reserve lies in the

Jeti-Ögüz District Jeti-Ögüz ( ky, Жети-Өгүз , ''seven bulls'') is a Districts of Kyrgyzstan, district of Issyk-Kul Region in north-eastern Kyrgyzstan. Its seat lies at Kyzyl-Suu. Its area is , and its resident population was 93,392 in 2021. It comprises m ...

, south of the

Terskey Ala-too The Terskey Ala-Too ( ky, Тескей Ала-Тоо, Teskey Ala-Too, , russian: Терскей-Алатау, Terskey-Alatau) is a mountain range in the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan. It stretches south and southeast of Lake Issyk-Kul, from th ...

mountains. It occupies the basins of the rivers Sarychat and Bordu, tributaries of the Üchköl ( Saryjaz basin).

References

Issyk-Kul Region Nature reserves in Kyrgyzstan Protected areas established in 1995 Tian Shan 1995 establishments in Kyrgyzstan {{Asia-protected-area-stub