Gun Galuut Nature Reserve

The Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve was founded in 2003, to protect the endangered wildlife and their habitats. It is the place that a complex of high mountains, wide steppes, lucid rivers, lakes, and wetlands are kept. 

The area constitutes three zones: one is “touristic” and open to visitors, another one has restricted access, and the last one, central, is forbidden.

The Nature Reserve is at about 1200 meters (3937 feet) above sea level and located 130 km (113 km on paved road, 17 km on bumpy road) from Ulaanbaatar to the southeast on the banks of the River Kherlen. Historically, it was the birthplace of D. Natsagdorj, the founder of modern Mongolian literature and there are many lines in his poetry, praising the natural beauty of the Gun Galuut.

Lakes & Mountain:

In the reserve, the largest lakes are Lake Ikh Gun (8,8 square kilometers, 3,4 square miles) and Lake Ayaga (1,2 square kilometers, 0,5 square miles). Both lakes are located in the Northern part of the “touristic” zone of the reserve. The Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve is crossed by many rivers, including the Kherlen River, one of the longest rivers of Mongolia, and the Ayaga, Shinebulag, Galuutai rivers, etc. 

Baits Mountain in the center of the reserve (1641 meters, 5384 feet) and Berkh Mountain in the extreme South (1631 meters, 5351 feet) stand in this area. 

Animals:

There are many wild animals such as the wild sheep (argali), the gray wolf, the fox, the lynx, the wildcat manuul, the hare, the marmot, and mice. Antelopes often venture to the East of the mountain. 

Regarding ornithological species, we can find the steppe eagle, the golden eagle, the saker falcon, the kestrel, the upland buzzard, the long-legged buzzard, the Mongolian lark, the Calandra lark, the crested lark, the horned lark, the thrush, the pipit, the hoopoe, the owl, or the tawny owl.

Today, 38 species of fish habit in the Kherlen River, which takes its source in Mount Khentii and flows into Lake Dalai in Inner Mongolia. Among the species of fish, we find the taimen, the lenok, the Amur pike, the burbot, or the flathead asp. It’s possible to fish, but only “catch and release”.