The Badhyz State Nature Reserve () is a
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...
(
zapovednik
A zapovednik is an established term on the Post-Soviet states, territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area which is kept "forever wild". It is the highest degree of environmental protection for the assigned areas, which are strictly ...
) in south-western
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
that was established in 1941 and extends over in the
Mary and
Akhal Provinces. It is located south of the
Karakum Desert, and the
Tejen River forms its western border.
[Kaczensky, P. and Linnell, J. D. C. (2014). Rapid assessment of the mammalian community of the Badhyz Ecosystem, Turkmenistan, October 2014. NINA Report 1148. Trondheim: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research.]
Its landscape comprises solitary or groups of foothills, ranging in height from 20 to 200 m. The average annual precipitation of the reserve is about 280 mm, with a maximum of 420 mm and a minimum of 130 mm. Its short spring is followed by a long hot summer with 4–5 months of hot weather and little cooling winds.
It also incorporates three wildlife sanctuaries (
zakaznik), which were established in 1956:
*
Çemenebit Sanctuary
*
Gyzyljar Sanctuary
*
Pulhatyn Sanctuary
Fauna
The Badhyz State Nature Reserve is an important stronghold of the
Asiatic wild ass (''Equus hemionus kulan''). It was once the last place where the
Turkmenian wild ass was found. The wild ass population increased from 200, when the reserve was founded to 5000 animals. After a strong decline, there are now about 650 wild ass in the sanctuary.
[Moehlman, P. D. (ed). (2002). ''Equids: Zebra, Asses, and Horses. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan.'' IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group., Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.]
Other
ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...
s present in this protected area are
urial,
goitered gazelle and
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 Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
. Predators 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 Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
,
Persian leopard,
striped hyena
The striped hyena (''Hyaena hyaena'') is a species of hyena native to North and East Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Hyaena''. It is listed by the IU ...
,
grey wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...
, and
Asiatic wildcat.
[
The Asiatic cheetah also used to occur in the nature reserve.][
]
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
* http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=22112&m=0
Nature reserves in Turkmenistan
Protected areas established in 1941
World Heritage Tentative List
{{Asia-protected-area-stub