The plant and animal world in the territory of the republic is characterized by great diversity.
The distribution of vegetation depends on the complexity of the terrain and is determined by the location of ridges, high zonality, and the exposure of slopes. While thermophilic, drought-resistant plants grow on southern slopes, moisture-loving, frost-resistant plants are found on northern slopes. In the foothills, semi-deserts dominated by wormwood and a mixture of sod grasses are developed. In the mountain steppes, feather grass and typical grass prevail. Meadow steppes occupy higher areas.
In the lower belts of the mountain-forest-meadow-steppe zone (up to 1700 m), shrub thickets and deciduous forests are common, while in the upper belt, there are spruce, fir-spruce forests, and juniper forests. The slopes of the Chatkal and Fergana ridges are characterized by subtropical semi-deserts and mountain steppes. There are also forests of walnut and maple occupying the lower belts of the forest-meadow-steppe zone (Brief Geographic Encyclopedia. 1961. P. 281, 282).
Depending on adaptation to different altitude belts and the characteristics of the space with vegetation, various species of rodents, birds, wild animals, and ungulates are found in the territory of the republic. While mammals such as the great jerboa and the gazelle inhabit the foothills, the mountain goat (tekё) and the mountain ram (argali) live in rocky places with stone debris located at high altitudes. The habitats of snow leopards (ilbirs) are the high belts of alpine meadows.
Brown bears, lynxes, roe deer, stoats, gray wolves, harriers, field mice, and other species of mammals, birds, and rodents add diversity to the animal world of the forests.
Around 50 species of fish can be found in lakes and rivers. Species such as the chebak, osman, marinka, and some others have inhabited Issyk-Kul since ancient times. In the second half of the 19th century, resettled peasants were pleasantly surprised by the abundance of fish in the lake and rivers. During the Soviet era, vendace and whitefish were adapted to the high-altitude lake Son-Kul. In the water bodies and rivers of the republic, one can find carp, pike, silver carp, and others.
