!!!Shaytan-Tau Nature Reserve

Photos by Stanislav Sedov,
Natalia Sudets,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

2 September 2020

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

On October 9, 2014, one of the youngest nature reserves of Russia was
founded along the Shaytantau ridge of the Southern Urals in Orenburg
Oblast and was named the Shaytan-Tau Nature Reserve.

"Shaytan-Tau" is Bashkir for "Devil Mountain". According to legends,
this name was given to this place by nomads who got extremely tired of
severe weather conditions — cold and strong winds. The ridge that
surrounds the nature reserve is only 619 meters high. But its landscape
is marked by an extreme difference in altitude ranging between 237 and
557 meters.

[{Image src='01_Shaytan.jpg' caption='Shaytan-Tau Nature Reserve, Russia\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='512'}]

Local people have given one more name for this ridge — Dzyautube
(meaning "Battle Mountain"). This name refers to an ancient legend of
this region that tells of the Bashkir and Kazakh forces fighting on the
summits, slopes and in low-hill wood valleys of Shaytan-Tau.

Comparing to other conservation areas, this nature reserve has a rather
limited territory — only 6,726 ha. But this is where the unique
Dubravnaya steppe has been best preserved in this part of the planet.

[{Image src='02_Shaytan.jpg' caption='Shaytan-Tau Nature Reserve, Russia\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='253'}]

Dubravnaya steppe is a unique combination of mountain valleys, mixed
herb steppes, oak groves and brushwoods. An exceptional ecosystem has
evolved here: it is the area which is comfortable for different animal
species, ranging from brown bears and lynxes to jerboas and ground
squirrels. The mountain streams are full of trouts and graylings;
peregrine falcons and golden eagles are flying in the sky, while the
butterflies of the clouded Apollo and Papilio Machaon are hovering above
flowers. In total, the nature reserve is inhabited by 40 mammal species,
101 bird species, 6 reptile species, 6 amphibian species and dozens of
insect species.

[{Image src='03_Shaytan.jpg' caption='Shaytan-Tau Nature Reserve, Russia\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='293'}]

And finally, Shaytan-Tau is the only place in the Urals containing
limestone reefs which are of Cambrian age, almost 500 million years old.
Scientists are still excavating remains of extinct ancient marine
animals and seaweeds.

This unique area was separated to become a nature reserve in order to
develop cultural tourism and environmental education. AirPano has made
its modest contribution to this significant goal.

[{Image src='04_Shaytan.jpg' caption='Shaytan-Tau Nature Reserve, Russia\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='556'}]

AirPano team would like to express gratitude to the administration of
the Orenburg Nature Reserve and personally Rafilya Bakirova, Irina
Lapytova, Kashirsky Alexey Veniaminovich and Kasymov Murat for help with
organisation of shooting the Shaytan-Tau Nature Reserve.

\\ \\
[4 panoramas of Shaytan-Tau Nature Reserve|Geography/Asia/Russia/Pictures/Shaytan-Tau]

[{SET customtitle='Shaytan-Tau Nature Reserve (AP)'}]












[{Metadata Suchbegriff=' ' Kontrolle='Nein'}]