Afghanistan has long been known for diverse wildlife. Many of the larger mammals in the country are categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as globally threatened. These include the snow leopard, Marco Polo sheep, Siberian musk deer, markhor, urial, and the Asiatic black bear. [1] [2] Other species of interest are the ibex, the gray wolf, and the brown bear, striped hyenas, and numerous bird of prey species. [3] [4] [5] Most of the Marco Polo sheep and ibex are being poached for food, whereas wolves, snow leopards and bears are being killed for damage prevention. [6]
A leopard was recorded by a camera-trap in Bamyan Province in 2011. The long-lasting conflict in the country badly affected both predator and prey species, so that the national population is considered to be small and severely threatened. [7] [8] [9] Between 2004 and 2007, a total of 85 leopard skins were seen being offered in markets of Kabul. [10] Contemporary records do not exist for any of the smaller cat species known to have been present in the country, all of which were threatened already in the 1970s by indiscriminate hunting, prey depletion and habitat destruction. [11]
The Asiatic cheetah is considered to be extirpated in Afghanistan since the 1950s. [11] Two cheetah skins were seen in markets in the country, one in 1971, and then in 2006. The latter was reportedly from Samangan Province. [12]
The Caspian tiger used to occur along the upper reaches of Hari-Rud near Herat to the jungles in the lower reaches of the river until the early 1970s. [13]
Uncertain is the historical presence of the Asiatic lion in the country, as locality records are not known. [11] It is thought to have been present in southwestern and southern Afghanistan. [14] In March 2017, the Afghan Border Police (ABP) seized six white lions at the Wesh–Chaman border crossing in Spin Boldak before being smuggled into neighboring Pakistan. The origin of the lions was unclear at first, [15] but the ABP said that they were from Africa. In April 2017, four of the lions were taken to Kabul Zoo. The other two were still somewhere in Kandahar Province. [16]
The Khuzestan Plain is the relatively flat region of Iran where the Khuzestan province and the cities of Ahvaz, Susa and Abadan are located. Khuzestan Plain borders Mesopotamia and is separated from it by the Shatt al-Arab river.
The Kushk is a river which, for a portion of its course, forms the boundary between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, and used to form part of the southernmost border of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The Kushk is fed by the Aq Robat and Galleh Chagar rivers in north-western Afghanistan. After 150 km, it flows into the Murghab River.
Environmental issues in Afghanistan are monitored by the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA). They predate the political turmoil of the past few decades. Forests have been depleted by centuries of grazing and farming, practices which have only increased with modern population growth.
The Zagros Mountains forest steppe is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in Western Asia. The ecoregion extends along the Zagros Mountains, stretching from eastern Turkey and northern Iraq to southern Iran.
The Naltar Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area located in the Naltar Valley near Nomal, in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. The Sanctuary was created on 22 November 1975 and consists of a steep-sided forested valley with high mountains on either side. A small number of Astor markhor are found here as well as other large mammals.
Fauna in Armenia is diverse given the country's relatively small geographic size, owing to the varied habitats created by the area's mountainous terrain. Armenia is an important area for migratory animals; about 350 different bird species were recorded in the country. Many of the world's domesticated animals originated in the area Armenia is located in, and the mouflon, the ancestor of domesticated sheep, is present there. Research suggests that about a quarter of the animal species in Armenia are internationally endangered. The mouflons are suffering a great population decline due to poaching and habitat loss, and the Sevan trout, which made up thirty percent of the fish in Lake Sevan, have virtually disappeared.
Shirvan State Reserve in Azerbaijan was established on the area of 177.45 square kilometres (68.51 sq mi) of a part of Bendovan State Game reserve in 1969 for the purpose of protecting and increasing the number of water birds. The area of the reserve was expanded to 258 square kilometres (25,800 ha) in 1982.
The wildlife of Iran include the fauna and flora of Iran.
The wildlife of Azerbaijan consists of its flora and fauna and their natural habitats.
The wildlife of Kazakhstan includes its flora, fauna, and funga and their natural habitats.
The wildlife of Pakistan comprises a diverse flora and fauna in a wide range of habitats from sea level to high elevation areas in the mountains, including 195 mammal, 668 bird species and more than 5000 species of Invertebrates. This diverse composition of the country's fauna is associated with its location in the transitional zone between two major zoogeographical regions, the Palearctic, and the Oriental. The northern regions of Pakistan, which include Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan include portions of two biodiversity hotspot, Mountains of Central Asia and Himalayas.
The Badhyz State Nature Reserve is a protected area (zapovednik) in south-western Turkmenistan that was established in 1941 and extends over 877 km2 (339 sq mi) in the Mary and Akhal Provinces. It is located south of the Karakum Desert, and the Tejen River forms its western border.
The Sherobod, Sherabad or Sheroboddaryo is a right tributary of the Amu Darya in the Surxondaryo Region, southern Uzbekistan. It is about 177 kilometres (110 mi) long and drains an area of 2,950 square kilometres (1,140 sq mi). The river rises in the arid foothills of the Gissar Range and flows south through steppe before flowing through a mountain ridge to empty into the Central Asian plain near the city Sherobod. The river turns south and flows past Qorasuv, to flow into the Amu Darya near the village Shurab. Because of irrigation water use, most of the water in the Sherabad no longer reaches the Amu Darya and its eventual destination in the Aral Sea. After flowing out of the mountains the remaining water in the river is usually salty so it is unsuitable for further water use. In dry years, most of the river dries up before reaching the Amu Darya.
The Kirthar National Park is situated in the Kirthar Mountains in Jamshoro District in Sindh, Pakistan. It was established in 1974 and encompasses over 3,087 km2 (1,192 sq mi), making it the third largest national park in Pakistan. Wildlife in the park comprises leopard, striped hyena, Indian wolves, honey badger, urial, chinkara gazelles and rare Sindh ibex. Blackbuck are kept in enclosures for a reintroduction project.
Parishan Lake is a lake in Iran. The Parishan Lake is in Jereh and Baladeh District in Fars Province and is the largest freshwater lake in the country. It receives very small amount of water from feeder rivers and the whole lake or wetland is a protected area, as it is considered a globally significant wetland ecosystem. Another lake in this area is that of Arzhan. The whole protected area is called "Arzhan National Park." This area is an important sanctuary for birds.
The Ussuri dhole, also known as the Eastern Asiatic dhole and the Chinese dhole, is the nominate subspecies of the dhole wild dog native to Asia. The Ussuri dhole subspecies is originally native to China and sections of Manchuria, the Amur River, the Korean Peninsula and Mongolia; however, it is presumed regionally extinct or extirpated in most of its historical range in the country, and likely found in fragmented populations in the Russian Far East.
Wakhan National Park is a national park in northeastern Afghanistan. Established in 2014, the park encompasses the entire Wakhan District of Badakhshan Province, extending along the Wakhan Corridor between the Pamir mountains and the Hindu Kush, bordering the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region of Tajikistan to the north, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan to the south, and the Xinjiang autonomous region of China to the east.
In Afghanistan, there are more than 3,000 plant species, including many assortments of trees, bushes, vines, blossoms, and growths. The nation is especially wealthy in such therapeutic plants as regret, wormwood, and asafetida; products of the soil trees are found in numerous territories. Local fauna incorporate the fox, lynx, wild hound, bear, mongoose, vixen, hedgehog, hyena, jerboa, rabbit, and wild assortments of felines, asses, mountain goats, and mountain sheep. Trout is the most widely recognized fish. There are in excess of 100 types of wildfowl and feathered creatures.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)