Kazakhstan Animals and Plants

What is growing in Kazakhstan?

Kazakhstan is a big country and nature is very diverse. Many different plants and animals can be found in the different regions of the country. There are several national parks in Kazakhstan that are designed to protect the country’s nature.

84 percent of the entire country are desert and steppe areas. Nevertheless, 5700 plant species grow here, 700 of which are native to Kazakhstan and nowhere else. This is called endemic. The flora has adapted to be able to live under the harsh conditions.

Birch, aspen, willow and in the west also spruce grow in the forests. In the north of the country, on the border with Siberia, there are forest steppes and further south there are many real steppes. Even further south, the country becomes a semi-desert and then an extremely dry desert.

Special conditions for plants

Often a strong wind blows, which accelerates the erosion of the soil. Some plants have developed double roots: some are just a little below the ground to absorb the scant rain, and some are much deeper to provide the plant with water from there. Pretty clever. Many plants then remain of small growth. Many low shrubs grow in the deserts and steppes. Feather grass is common in the steppes.

There is a greater variety of plants on the oases and rivers. Marjoram and sweet clover thrive here. You can also discover reeds, willows, rushes and poplars here. Kazakhstan’s flora is rich in many different medicinal herbs. St. John’s wort and valerian grow. In the forest regions you can also find berries in many varieties.

Typical plants in Kazakhstan

Typical of the deserts is a plant called Saxaul. This is a shrub that looks almost like a small tree. This “shrub” can actually reach a height of nine meters. Not only does it survive in the desert regions of Kazakhstan, but it can also be found throughout Central Asia. In summer, most of the plants in the desert burn because it is too hot. In spring, many plants can also bloom beautifully for a short time.

Which animals live in Kazakhstan?

In the forest areas of Kazakhstan there are many animals that you probably know, such as rabbits, badgers and foxes, but also many small rodents such as mice and squirrels. Marmots can also be found. Wolf and fox find refuge and hunt deer. Wapitis are typical for this region. This is a species of deer that is much larger than our deer, but still belongs to the red deer. Elk mostly live together in larger or smaller herds.

But animals also live in the desert and steppe. The steppe animals include, for example, the saiga antelope, an ungulate that lives everywhere in the Central Asian steppes.

As a country located in Asia according to localbusinessexplorer, Kazakhstan is also characterized by a wealth of many bird species. A country with so many rivers and lakes also attracts birds, who like to look for their breeding grounds near the water. Vultures, cranes, herons, but also ducks, geese and wild chickens cavort in the water areas. The proud eagles, which are also in the country’s flag as a symbol of freedom, also live in Kazakhstan. The largest bird species are the bustards, which belong to the cranes. They can weigh up to 16 or in exceptional cases even up to 19 kilograms. Although they live on the ground, they can also fly.

Surviving in Kazakhstan is not that easy

In the semi-deserts and deserts of Kazakhstan, the biodiversity is not so great. Many lizards and snakes live in the desert-like steppes. Mice can also survive here and in turn serve as food for the snakes. Wolves and foxes also roam. With luck, they might kill a saiga antelope or a crop gazelle. Several species of snakes survive in the deserts, but also scorpions. Up to 60 reptile species have been counted in Kazakhstan.

One tries to protect different animal species within the national parks of Kazakhstan. This is how the snow leopards survive in the reserves. The snow leopard is a national symbol of Kazakhstan. Bears still roam around in the Altai Mountains and lynxes are also common. Incidentally, a species of seal also lives in the Caspian Sea. Seals are normally only found in “real” seas, but this is one of the few exceptions. This Caspian seal lives only in the Caspian Sea. It is now threatened because the discharge of poisons into the Caspian Sea makes the animals sick and the populations continue to decline.

Kazakhstan Animals