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• Text account
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• Reference and further resources

The site was identified as important in 2004 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
White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala	EN	passage	2004	48 individuals	A1
Greylag Goose Anser anser	LC	passage	2004	215,000 individuals	A4i
Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons	LC	passage	2004	85,000 individuals	A4i
Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus	VU	passage	2004	13 individuals	A1
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula	LC	passage	2004	660 individuals	A4i
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	passage	2004	309,030 individuals	A4iii

1. The current IUCN Red List category. The category at the time of the IBA criteria assessment (2004) may differ.

Ideally the conservation status of the IBA will have been checked regularly since the site was first identified in 2004. The most recent assessment (2015) is shown below.

State (condition of the trigger species' habitats)
Habitat	Quantity (% remaining)	Quality (% carrying capacity)	Result
Wetlands (inland)	very poor (< 40%)	very poor (< 40%)	very unfavourable
Grassland	good (> 90%)	poor (40-69%)	unfavourable
Artificial/Terrestrial	good (> 90%)	good (> 90%)	favourable

Pressure (threats to the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Threat	Timing	Scope	Severity	Result
Climate change and severe weather	likely in short term (within 4 years)	some of area/population (10-49%)	slow but significant deterioration	medium
Agricultural expansion and intensification	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low
Human intrusions and disturbance	happening now	small area/few individuals (<10%)	no or imperceptible deterioration	low

Response (conservation actions taken for the trigger species and/or their habitats)
Protected areas	Management plan	Other action	Result
Not assessed	Not assessed	Not assessed	not assessed

Habitat1	Habitat detail	% of IBA
Wetlands (inland)	Standing fresh water, Water-fringe vegetation	80
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable land, Highly improved reseeded grasslands	10
Grassland	Dry grassland on sandy soils, Mesophile grassland & tall grass steppe, Steppes & dry calcareous	10

1. IUCN Habitat classification.

Land use	% of IBA
hunting	100
rangeland/pastureland	20
agriculture	10

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Zharkol Lakes (Kazakhstan). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/zharkol-lakes-iba-kazakhstan on 22/11/2024.