Khakass Reserve in the city of Abakan

In Southern Siberia, or rather on the territory of Khakassia, there is a huge state nature reserve "Khakassky". It was created relatively recently, in 1999 on the basis of two reserves - "Small Abakan" and "Chazy". Protection of mountain forest and steppe ecosystems is the main task of the reserve.

The total area of the reserve covers 267.5 thousand hectares, which are divided into 11 clusters. Due to the rich natural diversity of landscape and biological features, the areas of the reserve are combined into two groups: mountain taiga and steppe.

The list of the main protected objects of the reserve include: for areas of the steppe group - rare endemic plant species, lakes, flora of the Minusinsk basin belts, marshlands, 244 species of various birds, mammals, 6 species of reptiles, amphibians and 837 species of unique higher vascular plants. The area of the mountain taiga group is protected by cedar forests with flora and fauna, more than 139 species of birds, mammals and amphibians, especially valuable species of animals: sable, mink, maral, flax, taimen, cabarga and otter.

You can get to the territory of the reserve only by a special pass, or having previously agreed on the route with the administration.