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The site was identified as important in 2007 because it was regularly supporting significant populations of the species listed below, meeting ('triggering') IBA criteria.

Populations meeting IBA criteria ('trigger species') at the site:

Species	Red List1	Season	Year(s)	Size	IBA criteria
Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni	LC	breeding	2007	20-30 breeding pairs	A1
Saker Falcon Falco cherrug	EN	breeding	1991-2006	2-15 breeding pairs	A1

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2007) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2007. The most recent assessment (2017) is shown below.

State (condition of the trigger species' populations)
Species	Reference	Actual	Units	% remaining	Result
Black Grouse Lyrurus tetrix	50	12	individuals	24	very unfavourable
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos	20	10	individuals	50	unfavourable
Black-bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis	1	25	individuals	100	favourable
Demoiselle Crane Anthropoides virgo	8	8	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax	1	8	individuals	100	favourable
Great Bustard Otis tarda	10	4	breeding pairs	40	unfavourable
Asian Houbara Chlamydotis macqueenii	2	2	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Black Stork Ciconia nigra	2	2	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Little Owl Athene noctua	15	10	breeding pairs	67	unfavourable
Eurasian Eagle-owl Bubo bubo	15	3	breeding pairs	20	very unfavourable
Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis	5	6	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca	4	1	breeding pairs	25	very unfavourable
Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos	1	2	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus	20	18	individuals	90	near favourable
Milvus migrans	10	6	breeding pairs	60	unfavourable
Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus	7	20	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni	30	30	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus	15	30	breeding pairs	100	favourable
Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo	6	4	breeding pairs	67	unfavourable
Saker Falcon Falco cherrug	6	5	breeding pairs	84	near favourable

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Forest	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable
Shrubland	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable
Grassland	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable
Wetlands (inland)	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable
Artificial/Terrestrial	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Biological resource use	happening now	majority/most of area/population (50-90%)	very rapid to severe deterioration	very high
Agricultural expansion and intensification	happening now	some of area/population (10-49%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Unknown	No management planning has taken place	Unknown	negligible

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Grassland	Steppes & dry calcareous	75
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)	Inland cliffs, Scree, boulders & bare rocky areas	10
Forest	Flood-plain	5
Shrubland	Low bushes, Juniper scrub	5
Wetlands (inland)	Fens, transition mires & springs, Rivers & streams, Temporary water bodies, Water-fringe vegetation	5
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable land, Highly improved reseeded grasslands	-

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
rangeland/pastureland	50

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Karabas Mountains (Kazakhstan). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/karabas-mountains-iba-kazakhstan on 23/11/2024.