Tyup Nature Reserve

Bountiful Tyup

The Tyup district is located 20 kilometers from Karakol. It is situated in the eastern part of Issyk-Kul in a lowland. This is a kind of depression surrounded by the Kungey Ala-Tuu mountains to the north and the Tasma-Tuu mountains to the south. Several gorges lead from the Tyup district to the cliffs of the Terskey Ala-Tuu. These are quite long and wide fissures. The climate here is very mild and pleasant. In winter, temperatures do not drop below 15 degrees, and in summer, they do not rise above 25 degrees.

The Tyup district has many rivers and streams. They literally permeate the lowlands of the district. Therefore, the vegetation here is rich, lush, and diverse. Willows grow throughout the valley, and slightly higher up, there are coniferous forests. And literally everywhere, throughout the district, there are shrubs of wild rose, honeysuckle, and sea buckthorn.

The climatic and relief features led to the establishment of the Tyup Botanical Reserve in 1975, aimed at protecting an extensive area covered with rare creeping shrubs of the Cossack juniper.

It is located in the middle of the district, in the floodplain of the Tyup River. In the same year, a protective object was created in the "Santash" state farm. Here, plants that grow only in this area were collected – willow, sea buckthorn, honeysuckle, barberry, and rare herbs. The total area of this reserve is 100 hectares.

There is another reserve – the Tyup Zoological Reserve (19,000 hectares). It occupies the territory in the upper reaches of the Karakara and Tyup rivers. Since 1975, rare animals have been officially protected here. These include the mountain ram, mountain goat, maral, Tien Shan bear, snow leopard, Turkestan lynx, and roe deer. Nesting birds include the serrow and rare predatory birds, such as the snow griffon, bearded vulture, golden eagle, and saker falcon. The reserve is also home to wild boar, hare, fox, marmot, and the rare mountain turkey, the ulur.

The main feature of the reserves is that they are located over a large area high in the mountains. Forests grow on their territory, and alpine and subalpine meadows stretch, which transition into the snow belt above. Their main goal is to protect and breed animals and birds.