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Site description (2004 baseline):
Site location and context
Tassuat Lake is situated in 14 km to NW from Tsherbakovsky village of Nurinsky district. Surrounding landscape - hilly plane with depressions with lakes and salt-marshes, steppe and meadow (in depressions) vegetation, bushes (Caragana, Rosa, Lonicera). Height of hills is up to 70 m. Soils are clays and loams. The lake is salt; area - 1650 ha., length - 7.6 km, maximum width - 2.6 km, depth - up to 2.0 m, volume of water mass - 8 million cubic metres, area of water collection - 67 square km. Area of reedbeds - about 650 hectares. More than 20,000 waterfowl are observed here during passage.
80 species of waterfowl, waders, gulls, terns were registered here breeding and on passage. During autumn passage, more than 20,000 waterfowl are observed regularly. The main migrating species are: Anser erythropus, Anser anser, Anas strepera, Anas crecca, Anas platyrhynchos, Anas clypeata, Aythya ferina, Calidris minuta, Calidris alpina etc. Of the rare species - Anser erythropus is common (tens and hundreds) on autumn passage. In the breeding season, there are typical birds of the steppe wetlands of Kazakhstan: besides waterbirds, 25 species of passerines, some raptors etc.
Non-bird biodiversity: Around the lake, there is a typical steppe landscape with grass and some bushes. Of mammals, there are Canis lupus, Vulpes vulpes, Vulpes corsac, Meles meles, different rodents (jerboas, voles etc.), marmot etc. Of reptiles - Lacerta agilis, Vipera ursini, of fishes Carassius brama.
North bank is used for arable, and all lake for fisheries.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Arable on the north bank comes up to the shore-line and causes a large disturbance to breeding birds, and destruction of breeding sites. Fisheries area also a disturbance factor.
In 1998-2001, there was a zoological zakaznik "Tassuat" here, covering an area identical to the IBA. Now the lake is managed by the "Ponty" company, hunting at the lake and in 1-km zone around is prohibited. Creation of a zakaznik of regional importance is recommended in documents to the parliament commission on protected areas.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Tassuat Lake (Kazakhstan). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/tassuat-lake-iba-kazakhstan on 23/11/2024.
