Alma-Ata Preserve

Alma-Ata Preserve 

a preserve in Alma-Ata Oblast, Kazakh SSR. It is located in the central part of the Zailiiskii Alatau (first section, 71,700 ha, 1967) and in the middle reaches of the Ili River (second section, 18,000 ha, 1967). It was set up for the protection and study of the natural riches of the northern Tien Shan and to preserve the rare “singing sands.” Up to the 1,600–m level vegetation consists of deciduous forests with wild apple trees, apricots, aspen, and mountain ash. Between the altitudes of 1,600 and 2,800 m the mountains are covered with coniferous forests, mainly the Schrenk’s spruce. These are followed by alpine meadows with prostrate junipers and, above 3,500 m, bare rocks and glaciers. The highest peak is the Talgar Mountain (4,973 m) in the Talgar Massif, which is a mighty center of glaciation. The fauna of the Ili Valley is represented by the mountain sheep, the goitered gazelle, the rock partridge, and the pheasant; the mountain fauna consists of the maral, the roe, the brown bear, the lynx, the snow leopard, the grouse, the bearded partridge, the snowcock, the blue thrush, and the juniper grosbeak.

L. K. SHAPOSHNIKOV