Ile-Alatau National Park, Almaty

Ile-Alatau National Park, Almaty (Kazakhstan)

Ile-Alatau National Park is a national park in Kazakhstan. It was created in 1996 and covers about 200000 ha. It is situated in the mountains south of Almaty between Gorge Turgen in the east and Chemolgan River in the west. The National Park borders Almaty Nature Reserve which is located around Pik Talgar. The landscape includes woodlands alpine meadows glaciers and lakes including Big Almaty Lake. Remarkable trees include apricot maple and apple. A total of 300 species of birds and animals have been recorded from the Ile-Alatau National Park. The park is home to snow leopards Central Asian lynx Tian Shan brown bears Central Asian stone martens Siberian ibexes bearded vultures and golden eagles. Other notable bird species found in Ile-Alatau National Park include Himalayan snowcock ibisbill Eurasian scops owl and Eurasian three-toed woodpecker.