Kazakhstan is a large landlocked country in Central Asia. It shares borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea. It doesn’t share a direct border with Mongolia, but it’s very close. The climate of Kazakhstan is considered extreme continental with very cold winters and hot summers. It’s also a generally arid land with most places varying between semi-arid and arid. Some common animals in Kazakhstan include the Corsac fox, the Eurasian lynx, Pallas cat, snow leopard, and Saiga antelope.
Official National Animal
The national animal of Kazakhstan is the golden eagle, which is one of the largest raptors in the world.
©Vladimir Kogan Michael/Shutterstock.com
The official national animal of Kazakhstan is the golden eagle, which is also known by its scientific name of Aquila chrysaetos. The golden eagle is one of the largest raptors in the world. The average weight of female eagles is 11 pounds, and male eagles weigh just under 8 pounds. These eagles can live as long as 30 years in the wild. They live throughout Kazakhstan in deserts, tundra areas, and forests.
Where To Find The Top Wild Animals
A saiga is unique because of its large, flexible nose, which acts as a filter to keep out dust in the summer and warm up freezing air in the winter.
Kazakhstan is home to a wide variety of animals. Part of Kazakhstan is in Europe and another part is in Asia. The terrain is largely treeless with abundant desert and steppe, although it borders the Caspian Sea. Different animals live in different terrain. For example, snow leopards and Eurasian lynxes live in the mountains and taiga forests. Foxes and the Saiga antelope are found in the steppes. The golden eagle lives in forests as well as the steppes and open grassland.
- Saiga antelope – the Saiga antelope is a famously endangered and unique animal that lives in Kazakhstan. It used to have a wide range, but now can be found only in a few areas of central Asia.
- Snow leopard – these large cats live mainly in the Kazakh mountain ranges and are considered vulnerable in terms of their numbers.
- Golden eagle – Golden eagles can be found all over Kazakhstan from the mountains to the steppes, forests, and grasslands.
- Eurasian brown bear – the Eurasian brown bear is found near the Ural Mountains and is more common to the east of this range. However, there are rare populations on the Kazakh side of the mountains.
- Kazakhstan has ten national parks and ten nature reserves to protect the many rare, unique, and endangered species of wildlife.
- There is also the Almaty Zoo, which is the oldest zoo in the Republic of Kazakhstan, having opened in 1937. It houses a collection of 372 species of animals.
- Since 1979, there is also the Shymkent Zoo, which is engaged not only in the maintenance and acquisition of the collection of animals, but also in the breeding and conservation of rare animals.
Most Dangerous
The Eurasian brown bear is the largest predator still living on the continent of Europe, so it can be dangerous.
©Giedriius/Shutterstock.com
Kazakhstan is home to some large carnivores, including bears, snow leopards, and lynxes. However, these animals don’t go into human settlements most of the time. It’s unlikely that the average person will encounter a dangerous situation in the wild either. Poisonous spiders like the black widow can be found in Kazakhstan as well as scorpions and some venomous snakes like vipers, gyurza and shitomornik. Snakes and spiders are more likely to be found in human areas. Desert monitors also live in Kazakhstan. They are usually shy around humans, but they have the potential to be dangerous if provoked.
Endangered
The endangered snow leopards is rarely seen.
©Abeselom Zerit/Shutterstock.com
There are several endangered animals in Kazakhstan that have lost numbers due to hunting and destruction of habitat. The ship sturgeon is the only extinct species to come from Kazakhstan so far.
Several species are also considered vulnerable, including the following:
- Asiatic wild ass – a type of donkey that may have become extinct in Kazakhstan.
- Dhole – also called the Asiatic Wild Dog, tien Shan Dholes once roamed half the world but today are down to fewer than 2,500 adults
- Eurasian otter – a large mammal, generally solitary but territorial with a range all over Eurasian
- Steppe pika – small, short-legged, egg-shaped mammal that lives in burrows.
- Argali – the largest living wild sheep that roams the highlands of western East Asia
- Pond bat – a long-distance migrant and member of the vesper (evening) bat family
Rarest
As pups, the Caspian seal is white, but it is gray in adulthood.
©iStock.com/flyingrussian
The Caspian seal is the only marine mammal found in the Caspian Sea, which borders Kazakhstan, and it is found no where else. It is one of the smallest members of the earless seal family. Many human actions and ecological changes have reduced its population by about 90%, so urgent conservation measures are needed. The Caspian Seal is a key component of the Caspian ecosystem and is considered an indicator of the health of the sea.
In addition, there are several other different species of rare wildlife in Kazakhstan, including the long-needle hedgehog, Iranian cheetah, Eurasian lynx, desert cat, slim-goitered gazelles, sand grouse, Przewalski’s horse, Caspain Sea wolf (also called the steppe wolf) and the Siberian ibex.
Flag
The flag of Kazakhstan is a vibrant blue shade ith a yellow sun and eagle in the center.
©iStock.com/imagoGY
The flag of Kazakhstan has a sky blue field and the sun’s image taking up the center position with a steppe eagle soaring beneath it. Along the flagstaff is a vertical band that features the national ornamental patterns.