Abstract: Over 80 mammal species, nine of which are included in the Red Data Book (stone marten, marbled polecat, otter, manul, snow leopard, dziggetai, argali, bear), inhabit the State National Nature Park “Altyn-Emel”.

Abstract: Among species included in the Red Data Book of the USSR, predators occupy the first place; of them, unconditional leadership belongs the cat family species. Nine of eleven species of the family are referred to as rare and endangered ones. In the past snow leopard (Uncia uncia) inhabited all mountains on the south of the USSR from Tien Shan and Pamir to Transbaikalia. Now it no longer inhabits many of its previous habitats and has become rare, everywhere. Its total population in the USSR is no more than 1000 animals. At the beginning of XX century there were cases that such an amount of snow leopard (i.e. 1,000) was hunted during one year. Until recently, hunting the species was allowed all year round and even encouraged.

Abstract: In Kyrgyzstan, there are 106 mammal and 111 bird species. 40 mammal and 70 bird species are game ones. Resources of some of them were undermined due to over-hunting. Moral, goitered gazelle, pheasant have disappeared; argali, roe deer, and wild boar have become not numerous. In order to protect game fauna and regulate hunting of wild animals, hunting was prohibited at lake Issyk-Kul (1948); hunting for moral, goitered gazelle, swan, bar-headed goose, pheasant, snow leopard, bear, and argali was prohibited too (1952, 1956 and 1958).

Abstract: There are three fish species, two amphibian species, nine reptile, 97 bird species, and 23 mammal species, including snow leopard, in the Chatkal reserve. A list of animals and their brief description is provided.

Abstract: Kyrgyzstan is a land of towering mountains, glaciers, rushing streams, wildflowercovered meadows, forests, snow leopards, soaring eagles, and yurt-dwelling nomads. The entire nation lies astride the Tian Shan1, Chinese for “Heavenly Mountains”, one of the world's highest mountain ranges, which is 7439 m (24,400 ft) in elevation at its highest point. The nation is the second smallest of the former Soviet Central Asian republics. In
spite of Kyrgyzstan's diverse wildlife and stunning natural beauty, the nation remains little known, and, as yet, still on the frontier of international conservation efforts. The following report is the product of 12 months of research into the state of conservation and land-use in Kyrgyzstan. This effort was funded by the Fulbright Commission of the U.S. State Department, and represents the most recent findings of the author's personal environmental journey through Inner Asia, which began in 1999. When I first started my preliminary research for this project, I was extremely surprised to learn that, even though the Tian Shan Range has tremendous ecological significance for conservation efforts in middle Asia, there wasn't a single major international conservation organization with an office in the former Soviet Central Asian republics. Even more surprising was how little awareness there is of conservation issues in the Tian Shan region amongst conservation workers in neighboring areas who are attempting to preserve similar species assemblages and ecosystems to those found in the Tian Shan. Given this lack of awareness, and the great potential for the international community to make a positive contribution towards improving the current state of biodiversity conservation in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, I have summarized my findings on protected areas and conservation in Kyrgyzstan and the Tian Shan of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Xinjiang in the chapters below. The report begins with some brief background information on geography and society in the Kyrgyz Republic, followed by an overview of biodiversity and the state of conservation in the nation, which at the present time closely parallels the state of conservation in the other former Soviet Central Asian republics. Part IV of the report provides a catalog of all major protected areas in Kyrgyzstan and the other Tian Shan nations, followed by a list of sites in Kyrgyzstan that are as yet unprotected but merit protection. In the appendices the reader will find fairly comprehensive species lists of flora and fauna found in the Kyrgyz Republic, including lists of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, trees and shrubs, wildflowers, and endemic plants. In addition, a
draft paper on the history and current practice of pastoral nomadism in Kyrgyzstan has been included in Appendix A. While the research emphasis for this study was on eastern Kyrgyzstan, over the course of the study the author did have the opportunity to make brief journeys to southern Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Xinjiang. While falling short of being a definitive survey of protected areas of the Tian Shan, the informational review which
follows is the first attempt at bringing the details of conservation efforts throughout the entire Tian Shan Range together in one place. It is hoped that this summary of biodiversity and conservation in the Tian Shan will generate interest in the region amongst conservationists, and help increase efforts to protect this surprisingly unknown range that forms an island of meadows, rivers, lakes, and forests in the arid heart of Asia.