Astana (TDI): Kazakhstan’s Altyn-Emel National Park has been ranked in the world’s top ten most impressive national parks outside the US, according to a recent article in the American travel magazine Travel + Leisure.
The article commended the park’s natural diversity, rich wildlife, and distinctive landscapes.
Among the standout attractions spotlighted were the Singing Barchan sand dune, the Saka-era burial mounds at Besshatyr, the Kapshagai Reservoir, and the Sholak Mountains, a favored destination for birdwatchers.
“In Altyn-Emel National Park, a person can encounter rare and endangered species such as the Przewalski’s horse and the snow leopard,” the article noted.
Established in 1996 in Kazakhstan’s Zhetysu region, Altyn-Emel National Park covers 307,600 hectares, having expanded from its original area of 209,000 hectares.
It is situated in the Ili River valley and spans over desert plains, the foothills of the Dzungarian Alatau, and isolated rocky outcrops. The name Altyn-Emel means “Golden Saddle.”
It experiences a sharply continental climate, with dry, hot summers and limited annual precipitation of just 300-330 millimeters.
Its varied landscapes include sand dunes, clay formations, and mountain zones composed of ancient Paleozoic rock, some of which date back 400 million years.
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Altyn-Emel is home to more than 1,800 species of plants, including 21 listed in Kazakhstan’s Red Book of endangered species.
Unique vegetation includes black and white saxaul, ironwood groves, and the wild Sivers apple tree, an ancestor of modern cultivated apples.
The park hosts 393 species of vertebrates: 78 mammals, 260 birds, 25 reptiles, four amphibians, and 26 species of fish.
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Among the rarest animals are argali sheep, goitered gazelles, kulans, and snow leopards.
The park is especially proud of its Turkmen kulan population, reintroduced in 1982, which now numbers more than 2,000 individuals.
