KYRGYZSTAN


It takes a drive of two days, one of them off road, climbing 4,000m above sea level, to reach the Sarychat-Eertash Nature Reserve. Established in 1995, it covers more than 500sq miles and was founded to protect its diverse and endangered species, namely the ghostly snow leopard and the argali, the largest species of wild sheep in the world. Bears, wolves and the grumpy-looking Pallas cat also roam here. Conservationists and local people work hard to study and protect the wildlife. Rangers like Omurbek Kurmanaliev and his team swap their 4WD for semi-wild horses to journey deeper into glacial valleys, stopping at old hunting cabins and often sleeping outside.


114 NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/TRAVEL


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