Khustai national park

Khustain Nuruu National Park, whose name means ”the range of silver birches”, is located 90 kilometres (56 miles) Southwest from the capital, 1843 metres (1,1 mile) above the sea level in the sum of Altanbulag. It’s lined by Avdar Mountain in its Western part.

When this natural reserve was created in 1992, it covered an area of 506 square kilometres (195 square miles). Then, in 1998, it became a national park covering an area of 500 square kilometres (193 square miles), with the aim to reinsert the Przewalski’s horse, ”takhi” and to protect the ecosystem of the forest steppe, extremely threatened by the overexploitation of the land. It houses 459 species of plants, 85 species of lichens, 90 species of mosses, 33 species of mushrooms, and 44 species of mammals live in this area, such as the red deer, Mongolian gazelle, roe deer, grey wolf, lynx, red fox. We can also see in the park 217 species of birds, such as the golden eagle, bearded vulture, great bustard, whooper swan, black stork and partridge. The reserve is composed at the same time of desert zones and of mountainous zones.