Kopetdagh reserve

Kopetdagh wildlife sanctuary was purposefully estab­lished in 1976 to protect and rehabilitate the ecosystem of Central and Eastern Kopetdagh with the lowland. Total area of its disintegrated sections amounts to 49700 ha . Two game- preserves are also in its possession: Kalinin (15 thousand ha) and Meana-Chaachin (60 thousand ha), as well as two natural monuments: Karayalchi and Charlyk ravines.
Among the preserve vegetation Turkmen juniper prevails, it is very useful for its anti-erosion and water-protection characteristics. Side by side thorny fruticulum grows - the so-called «plants-pillows». It means that in the past the fauna of Kopetdagh was rich in ungulates.
The flora of the ridge reckons about 1400 species of the flowering plants, the bulk of which grows on the protected territories. 24 species are registered in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan. 3 species of the rowan-tree, Atabayev sennapod, Goog tulip and Trans-Caspian hyacinth are especially rare.
The fauna is diverse as well.
The mammals are represented by 67 species, whereof honey badger, striped hyena and leopard are the rarest. Kopetdagh wildlife sanctuary is rich in nesting birds. A juniper grosbeak, various species of thrushes and titmice, an Iranian warbler, a very rare Trans-Caspian snowcock, a black stork, a black vulture, a bearded vulture, individual species of falcons are the most typical therein.
There are 43 species of reptiles including the rarest gecko Eublepharis turcmenicus, a grey giant lizard, an Iranian cat snake, cobra. Insects population exceeds one thousand species whereof the rarest butterflies are available. However, an inventory of invertebrates is far from being completed. Re-acclimatization of kulans in Meana-Chaachin and Kalinin game-preserves is the greatest achievement of the wildlife sanctuary. It was carried out within 1978-1985 period when more than 60 kulans were brought to the Kopetdagh lowland from Badhyz wildlife sanctuary. According to the last data their total amount has attained 650 heads.
The wildlife sanctuary does much in the field of ecological education of the population. Outcomes of scientific studies are annually generalized in «Nature Chronicles» and scientific papers and monographs.