Protecting Nature

Shagul Hemraweva, Junior Researcher at the "Koytendag" State Nature Reserve: In our reserve, efforts to preserve the mountain ecosystem and collect scientific data on wild animals are being carried out successfully. Along with other rare creatures, the lynx (caracal) and the wildcat are also found in the reserve. Scientific records note that leopards used to live here in the past, but they have not been encountered in observations during recent years.

The lynx is medium-sized, with a body length reaching 80–107 centimeters, and currently, in our country, it is only found in the Koytendag region. This species has been included in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan, as well as the lists of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the CITES convention.

It is worth mentioning that innovative technologies are widely used in the scientific monitoring work conducted in our reserve. On November 6, 2013, the lynx was captured on video for the first time, and its presence near the Tamchy and Uzunaral springs was confirmed. We continue our planned scientific research to determine the distribution areas and the population of rare wild animal species.