Ashchisay Steppe

Ashchisay Steppe (Ащисайская степь) is the largest and easternmost section of the Orenburg State Nature Reserve. It covers 7,200 hectares in the Svetlinsky District of Orenburg Oblast. The reserve was established in 1989 to protect the steppe.

What to see

Almost the whole section lies in the basin of the Ashchisay gully, a wide, heavily branching valley of a seasonal stream that runs to Lake Ayke. In its lower reaches the Ashchisay floodplain widens to 100 metres, with low natural levees along the channel.

The section brings together the typical landscapes of the Turgay Plateau: flat areas of fescue and feather grass steppe on dark chestnut saline soils, gentle ridges with low hills, meadow lowlands with salt flats, lakes and marshes. Against this calm relief stand out residual rocks, crests and ridges of quartzite. This rock is highly resistant to weathering, which is why the outcrops survived while the slopes around them were worn down.

Nature

The climate of the Ashchisay section is the most continental and the driest of all sections of the reserve.

Sixteen species of mammals have been recorded in the steppe. The most common are the bobak marmot, the European hare, the steppe pika, the little ground squirrel and the common vole. Small colonies of the parti-coloured bat live in crevices of the quartzite rocks. Wolves, foxes, corsac foxes and badgers have dens on the site.

In the past, saigas came here from late May to August, usually in groups of up to 50–80 animals, and in migration years in herds of up to 1,000–2,000. Since 1992 saigas have hardly appeared on the site.

Forty-four bird species nest here, including the Eurasian skylark, the black lark, the white-winged lark, the western yellow wagtail, the northern wheatear and the steppe eagle. Ruddy shelducks and common shelducks raise their young in abandoned marmot burrows near steppe lakes and salt pans. Another 18 species occur during spring and autumn migration and in summer. Reptiles are represented by the variegated racerunner, the sand lizard and the steppe viper.

Before the reserve was established, the land was used as lightly grazed pasture and in places for haymaking. The land around the section, about 30,000 hectares, is pasture.

How to get there

Ashchisay Steppe is about 260 kilometres from Orsk. The road runs through the Dombarovsky District to the settlement of Svetly and then to the village of Pervomaysky. From Pervomaysky it is 5 kilometres north on a gravel road to the cordon of the reserve section.

Good to know

Ashchisay Steppe is a strictly protected area. Visiting is allowed only with a permit from the directorate of the Orenburg Reserves (FGBU «Zapovedniki Orenburzhya») or the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia. Check the visiting conditions with the reserve directorate in advance.