Ile-Alatau State National Nature Park is a protected area in Kazakhstan, created in 1996. It covers about 200,000 hectares and is located in the Trans-Ili Alatau mountain range, south of Almaty. The park extends from the Turgen gorge in the east to the Chemolgan river in the west. It shares a border with the Almaty Nature Reserve, which includes the area around Pik Talgar.

The park’s landscape includes forests, high mountain grasslands, glaciers, and lakes, such as Big Almaty Lake. The plant life is diverse, with trees like apricot, maple, and apple. The park also supports many types of wildlife, including more than 300 species of birds and animals.

Ile-Alatau National Park is famous for its variety of living things. Some notable animals include snow leopards, Central Asian lynx, Tian Shan brown bears, Central Asian stone martens, Siberian ibex, bearded vultures, and golden eagles. The park is also home to unique birds, such as the Himalayan snowcock, ibisbill, Eurasian scops owl, and Eurasian three-toed woodpecker. Additionally, several species of deer live in the park, and their antlers are believed to have medicinal uses.

History

The history of the park began with the creation of the Almaty State Reserve in Zailiisky Alatau in 1931. At first, the reserve covered 15,000 hectares in the valley of the Malaya Almatinka River. By 1935, its area expanded to 40,000 hectares and later grew to 856,700 hectares. This expansion led to the reserve being renamed Alma-Ata, covering the entire Zailiisky Alatau ridge. Scientists started regular studies of plant life, forest types, birds, and mammals in this area.

In 1985, the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR approved the first scientific plan for creating the Zailiisky National Park. This plan followed the Academy of Sciences’ program to develop protected areas in Kazakhstan. Scientists E. V. Gvozdev and B. A. Bykov oversaw the research for this plan.

In 1987, the Department of Biosphere and Ecology at the Kazakhstan Committee for UNESCO’s “Man and the Biosphere” program prepared a scientific report. This report, part of the “Development of Protected Areas in Kazakhstan” program, proposed creating the Zailiyskiy State National Nature Park over 280,000 hectares. The plan aimed to establish the park by 1995. A study to check the plan’s practicality was completed in 1990. On February 22, 1996, the Ile-Alatau National Park was officially created, covering 202,292 hectares, as decided by a government resolution.

Climate

The climate in the national park changes with altitude, creating different climate zones. Summers are warm, and winters are mild because air temperature changes with height. In the foothills, the average January temperature is -7.4°C, and 23°C in July. The frost-free period lasts 181 days, with 560 mm of rain each year. In the Maloalmatinsky gorge (Medeu tract), at 1530 meters, the January temperature averages -4.3°C, and 18.1°C in July. The frost-free period is 145 days, with 843 mm of precipitation annually. At 3035 meters (Mynzhilki tract), where snow and glaciers are present year-round, the January temperature averages -11.3°C, and 7°C in July. The frost-free period is 53 days, with 734 mm of precipitation each year. In the high-mountain area of the Zailiyskiy Alatau at 3750 meters, the climate is very cold, with heavy snowfall—800 to 1300 mm annually. The warm season is short, with summer temperatures on glaciers rarely exceeding 2.8°C.

Snow begins in the foothills (850 meters) on December 6. In the middle mountains (1200–2500 meters), snow starts a month earlier, and in the highlands (3000 meters), snow begins on October 21. Snow melts from March 10 to May 22, depending on the mountain and altitude. The number of days with snow varies from 111 to 236. Snow depth is about 30 cm in the foothills and can reach 100 cm in the middle and high mountains.

The Zailiyskiy Alatau acts as a high natural barrier for air masses moving from the north and northwest. These air masses enter the mountains through valleys, creating distinct natural landscapes at different altitudes. The park includes low-mountain, mid-mountain, and high-mountain areas, showing the layered structure of the mountain range.

Flora

The natural park is home to more than 1,000 plant species. Most of these plants are found in the middle-mountain forest belt. There are over 500 species of deciduous forest plants and more than 400 species of higher plants in spruce forests. Thirty-six plant species are listed in the Red Book.

In the lowlands, plants such as Ostrovskiy tulip, Mushketov's curlicue, Alberta iris, Sivers apple tree, and Altai holosemianus grow. In the middlelands, plants like orange jaundice, Semenov's tufted shagreen, Alma mater, and cortuza Semenova are found. In the highlands, plants such as Falconer liverwort, Tianshan Siberia, Kumbel hawk, Schmangauzia asteriata, and Sossurea wrapped grow. Mosses listed in the Red Book, including Pachyphysissidens largeifolia and Orthotrichum smoothened, require special protection. The red-listed saffron of Alatau (Crocus alatavicus) is found in the Kok-Gailau area.

Among useful plants, more than 80 species of fodder plants are important. These include cobresia hairy, sedge narrow dense, fescue Krylov, bluegrass alpine and meadow bluegrass, fescue Tianshan, hedgehog, short-legged pinnate, species regeneration, clover, pea, and chinna.

Among tannic plants, sorrel, mountain pea, and rhubarb are especially valuable. Essential oil-bearing plants include angelica, juniper, and wormwood. Natural dyes can be made from cuffs, daubing, and macrotonia.

Common medicinal plants include fir, yarrow, mother and stepmother, rose hips, joester, valerian, juniper, dandelion, and plantain.

Among food plants, apricot, apple tree, raspberry, currant, strawberry, blackberry, barberry, sea buckthorn, rowanberry, hawthorn, and rose hips are particularly valuable.

The park also has many ornamental plants, such as primroses, waterspouts, tulips, irises, small petals, bluebells, gentians, violets, and various types of trees and shrubs.

Fauna

The group of invertebrates has not been completely studied yet. However, scientists have already identified more than 2,000 species from 8 groups.

Some groups of insects are partially understood. For example, in the beetle group, 252 species of beetles, 180 species of staphylinids, and 102 species of leaf beetles have been found. In the butterfly and moth group, 145 species of daytime moths have been studied. In the hymenoptera group, 110 species of bees, 97 species of wasps, 33 species of ants, and 30 species of ichneumon flies have been recorded. Out of all these species, only 24 are listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan. These include 3 species of mollusks (Bradybena senestrosa, Pseudonapeus shnitkova, and Turcomylax cvetkova). The rest are insects, such as the Notable Hornbill, the Pretty Ladybird (from the dragonfly group), the Short-winged Bolivaria (from the mantis group), the Steppe Dabbit, the Semenov's Daisy, the Ershov's Jaundice, the Bedromylius, and the Patrician.

The group of vertebrates includes 245 species. In mountain rivers and streams, 8 species of fish live, such as naked and scaly ottomans, marinka, minnow, and in the Turgen River, acclimatized rainbow trout.

There are 4 species of amphibians. Two of these, the Danatin toad and the Central Asian frog, are listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan.

Among the 8 species of reptiles, lizards are common, such as Alai's googly and multicolored lizards. Snakes include common and water snakes, as well as multicolored and patterned snakes. Less common are venomous snakes, such as the steppe viper and shield-monkey.

The variety of natural conditions supports many bird species. In total, 178 bird species live in the national park. These birds are divided into three groups: 105 species that live there all year, 18 species that come in winter, and 55 species that migrate through the area. Eleven of these species are listed in the Red Book, including the black stork, pygmy eagle, golden eagle, kumai, shahin, sickle-owl, eagle owl, saker falcon (flying), peregrine falcon, and big lentil (wintering).

There are 48 species of mammals. Typical mountain mammals include the Tianshan rodent, rock squirrel, red pika, gray marmot, Tianshan mouse, silver vole, stone marten, snow leopard, and ibex.

In addition to mountain species, the park also has animals from other ecosystems, such as wolves, foxes, bears, roe deer, red deer, wild boar, and tolai hares. Seven species are listed in the Red Book: the brown Tianshan bear, snow leopard, stone marten, Central Asian river otter, Pallas' cat, Turkestan lynx, and Indian porcupine.

Landmarks

On the park's territory, burial mounds from the early Iron Age are found on the Assy plateau and near the Turgen Gorge, as well as Sak burials along the banks of the Issyk River.

On the right bank of the Turgen River, signs of a strong earthquake that happened more than 10,000 years ago were discovered. This area has layers of debris made of rocks with unusual shapes and colors, forming a natural monument.

The old mossy Chinturgen spruce forests are also a natural monument. These forests contain patches of permafrost with ice up to 2–3 meters thick, covered by moss at a depth of 30–40 centimeters. Permafrost areas at such low altitudes are not found elsewhere in the Trans-Ili Alatau. The high-altitude landscape near the "Prokhodnoy" Pass, which resembles the cold desert of the Inner Tien Shan, is unique.

Peak "Seven Needles Tuyuksu" is made of seven rock formations shaped like needles. Its difficulty level is 4a.

The park also includes the Kaskelen river gorge.

Gallery

• Close to an observatory.
• A watchtower located at Big Almaty Lake.
• The lake during winter.
• A water pipe connected to the lake.
• The lake covered in fog.
• Wildflowers growing along the Bogdanovich Glacier trail.