Katun Nature Reserve
The Katun Nature Reserve (Russian Катунский заповедник; Katunski sapowednik ) is a Russian nature reserve, located in the Republic of Altai in the Altai Mountains. The protected area covers a total area of about 1500 square kilometers and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Golden Mountains of Altai, which also includes the Altai Nature Reserve counts.
Landscape and vegetation
Landscape is dominated by alpine tundra areas, mountainous coniferous forests and meadows. The most important river is the Katun, after which the reserve is named. The protected area has the largest glacier system of Siberia, which extends over 80 square kilometers and consists of 148 individual glaciers.
Wildlife
The reserve is home to the endangered snow leopard and is one of the northernmost occurrence areas. Even the rare argali wild sheep or giant happens here. Other large mammals are Siberian ibex, Altaimaral, moose, Siberian roe deer, Siberian musk deer, wolf, brown bear, wolverine and northern lynx. In addition, red foxes, otters and pikas occur. Among the birds golden eagle, Eastern imperial eagle, black stork, demoiselle crane, peregrine falcon, nutcracker, nuthatch and hazel grouse can be mentioned. A total of about 120 species of birds inhabit the reserve.
Tourism
The area has hardly accessible, but offers great prospects for future tourism.