Ustyurt Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in Mangystau Region, southwest Kazakhstan, near the borders with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Established in 1984, it has an area of 2,230km2 (860sqmi) and lies within the Ustyurt Plateau. The reserve is intended to safeguard the desert as well as the rare flora and fauna in the area. It is home to 250 species of flora such as grey sage, feather grass, Anabasis salsa, and saltwort, as well as around 44 species of mammals such as the Ustyurt mouflon, saiga antelope, jeyran, fox and polecat. The reserve has a variety of landscapes, from steppes and depressions to pillars reaching several hundred metres in height, and features several Neolithic sites. This photograph shows an aerial view of the Karynzharyk Depression in Ustyurt Nature Reserve.Photograph credit: Maksat BisengazievRecently featured: Common ringed ploverAustin J. Tobin PlazaPlantago lanceolataArchiveMore featured pictures