Badai Tugai Nature Reserve

In the south-east of the country, there are unique Tugai nature reserves off the coast of the Amu Darya. Among them is the Badai-Tugai Nature Reserve. The zone was created in the 70s to protect the tugai forests off the coast of the Amu Darya and restore the habitat of the Bukhara deer.

The area of the Badai-Tugai Reserve is 6462 hectares.

Flora and fauna

In addition to tugai forests, reed beds and steppe meadows can be seen in the reserve. Poplar, loch, willow and reed grow in the Badai-Tugai protected area.

The animal world is represented by many different species of birds, mammals and 15 species of fish. Wild boar, tolai hare, fox, jackal, reed cat (the largest cat in Central Asia), badger, weasel, steppe ferret, eared hedgehog and numerous rodents mostly live here.

The Bukhara deer, or hangul, occupies a special place among protected animals. After the development of Tugai forests by humans, the Bukhara deer, previously numerous, was almost completely displaced from its native habitats.

The Amu Darya is home to such fish species as thorn, large and small Amu Darya pseudopatous, pike, asp, Aral barbel, bream, chehon, carp, catfish, walleye and white Amur. The world of birds is diverse, the territory of the reserve is home to buzzard, common kestrel, blue-eared pigeon, eared owl, white-winged woodpecker, little turtle dove, house owl, crested lark, magpie, black crow, jackdaw, great tit, myna, field sparrow, black kite and tussock. A specially protected bird species of Badai-Tugai is the Khiva pheasant.