Köýtendag Nature Reserve, formerly Kugitang Nature Reserve, is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

(''

zapovednik Zapovednik (russian: заповедник, plural , from the Russian , 'sacred, prohibited from disturbance, committed o protect committed o heritage; ) is an established term on the territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area which ...

'') in the extreme east of

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

Geography

Established in 1986, it is located in the Köýtendag Range of

Lebap Province Lebap Region ( tk, Lebap welaýaty/Лебап велаяты from the Persian language, Persian ''Lab-e āb'') is one of the regions of Turkmenistan. It is in the northeast of the country, bordering Afghanistan, Uzbekistan along the Amu Darya ...

and covers an area of 271.4 km². It spreads in the middle and upper mountain belt at an altitude of 900–3139 meters above sea level. The main feature of Koytendag are cave complexes ( more than 300 caves ) that are unique in Eurasia and the diversity of geological processes that formed them and the beauty of geological phenomena. The highest peak of Turkmenistan— Aýrybaba—falls in this nature reserve.

Sanctuaries

It also incorporates four sanctuaries: * Garlyk Sanctuary - established in 1986. * Hojapil Sanctuary - established in 1986. * Hojaburjybelent Sanctuary - established in 1986. * Hojagarawul Sanctuary - established in 1999.

Flora and Fauna

This place is one of the 50 important areas for birds and biodiversity in Turkmenistan. The reserve is home for the rare Heptner's markhor (''Capra falconeri heptneri'').Paul I. Weinberg, Raul Valdez, Alexander K. Fedosenko
''Status of the Heptner's markhor (''Capra falconeri heptneri'') in Turkmenistan''
Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 78, No. 3, Aug., 1997

References

*''National Program for the Protection of the Environment'', Ashgabat, 2002, pp. 149–151

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20090609072344/http://natureprotection.gov.tm/reserve_tm.html Nature reserves in Turkmenistan Protected areas established in 1986 1986 establishments in Turkmenistan World Heritage Tentative List {{Asia-protected-area-stub