Wildlife of Mongolia


The wildlife of Mongolia consists of flora, fauna and funga found in the harsh habitats dictated by the diverse climatic conditions found throughout the country. In the north, there are salty marshes and fresh-water sources. The centre has desert steppes. In the south, there are semi deserts as well as the hot Gobi Desert in the south, the fifth-largest desert in the world.
About 90% of the landlocked country is covered by deserts or pastures with extreme climatic conditions. Fauna in the wild includes 139 mammal species, 448 bird species, 76 fish species, 22 reptile species and 6 amphibian species. Grassland and shrubland covers 55 percent of the country. In the steppe zone, forest covers only 6 percent while 36 percent is covered by desert vegetation, and only 1 percent is used for human habitation and agriculture. The vegetation in the eastern steppe region is grassland.

Geography

Topography

The country is bounded by Tibet, Afghan Turkestan, Siberia, and Northeast China. This has resulted in a faunal richness that combines the species from each of the border nations. Habitat distribution consists of grassland, shrubland and forest covering 55 percent of the country, while forest cover is 98 percent in the steppe zone, 36 percent is covered by desert vegetation.

Water resources

The drainage pattern is dictated by Asia's continental divide. This separates areas that drain to the Arctic Ocean from those that drain northeast into the Pacific. The Khangai Mountains form another divide between areas that drain into the oceans and those that drain inland. In the western and southern zones, streams flow seasonally into salt water lakes without outlets. Rivers of the northern region are perennial, rising from the mountains. The two major river systems are the Orkhon River and the Selenge River. Lakes in the country are mostly saline. The largest by volume is freshwater Lake Khövsgöl, a natural lake formed in a structural depression. It is the second oldest lake in the world and accounts for 65 percent of the fresh water of Mongolia. To reduce the burden on water resources, Mongolia is building wastewater treatment plants to use it in industry and prevent discharge into rivers.

Climate

The climatic conditions dictated by the oceans on one side and the snow-capped mountains on the other side, have a significant bearing on the wildlife distribution in the country. The climate patterns are: continental climate with very cold conditions and cool to hot summers in the deserts and semi deserts. Temperature records indicate a very wide variation between winter and summer, of the order of on average in the northern part of the country, and even on a single day the variation can be as much as. In the Ulaanbaatar area the typical variation reported is in January and in July while in the Gobi Desert area, the average temperature reported for January is and in July.

Precipitation

Rainfall and snow are also very uneven, dependent on elevation and latitude. Annual amounts range from low-lying desert areas of the south and west where it is less than to northern mountainous areas, where it is reported as about, while at Ulaanbaatar the reported annual rainfall is. The number of days the sky remains clear and sunny is between 220 and 260 annually. Fierce blizzards occur in the mountain regions and the steppes. During this period a thin layer of snow totally stops grazing in these pastures.

Legal protection

Commercial exploitation increased between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries, necessitating increased legislation. Two laws were enacted in 1995, the Mongolian Law on Environmental Protection and the Mongolian Law on Hunting. The steppe habitat for Mongolian gazelle, an area of, is reported to be the "largest remaining example of a temperate grassland ecosystem".

Protected areas

Immediately after Mongolia attained independence in 1990, there was enthusiasm to declare 100 percent of the country as a national park. However, the goal was set at an achievable 30 percent. But due to economic conditions dictating development of mines, the achievement so far has been of the order of 13.8 percent covering an area of spread over 60 protected areas. There are four categories of protected areas, and these are: strictly protected areas ; the national parks, with their historical and educational interest providing for ecotourism in identified areas and with limited access to the local nomads for fishing and grazing; natural and historic monuments with restricted developmental activities; and nature reserves of less important regions providing protection to endangered and rare species of flora and fauna and archeological value with limited access for development within prescribed guidelines.
The strictly protected areas are Bogd Khan Uul Biosphere Reserve, Great Gobi Reserve, Uvs Nuur Basin Reserve, Dornod Mongol Biosphere Reserve and Khustain Nuuru Reserve. They are all under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme.
Some of the other protected are:
;Strictly protected areas
;National parks
;National reserves
;National monuments
  • Eej Khairkhan
  • Bulgan Uul
  • Togoo Tulga Uul
  • Naiman Nuur
  • Ganga Nuur

Flora

The flora in the wildlife area of Mongolia is of pasture lands in three-fourths of the country, which is the main source of feed for the large quantity of livestock. Forests and barren deserts cover the remaining area in the country. There are four vegetation zones. Coniferous forest form the taiga region of the northern areas with alpine noted at higher zones. In the mountain forest-steppe zone vegetation is dense on the northern slopes; Siberian larches, Siberian cedars, interspersed with spruces, pines, and firs along with deciduous vegetation of white and brown birches, aspens, and poplars are noted to dominate the area. The inter-montane basins, wide river valleys and the southern slopes of the mountains have steppe vegetation. Pastureland have a cover of feather grass, couch grass, wormwood, and several species fodder plants. In the semi desert and Gobi Desert areas, the vegetation is scanty but just adequate for the camels, sheep and goat populations to survive. Saxaul is a xerophytic species which provides firewood. Elms and poplars are also found near springs and underground water resources. Saxaul shrubs dominate the deserts and they anchor the sand dunes and prevent erosion. It grows to height of 4 m, over a period of 100 years, with very dense wood that sinks in water. Rhododendrons bloom with red, yellow and white flowers and edelweiss is also reported. More than 200 plant species are reported to be under threat. In 2021, the One Billion Trees program was launched with the goal of planting about a billion native trees and shrubs across the country by 2030. Since the launch of the national "1 Billion Trees" movement, 117 million trees have been planted and grown across the country by 2025.

Fauna

There are 139 mammal species found in Mongolia, and 448 species of birds.

Mammals

Mongolia has a number of large mammals, including gray wolves and Siberian ibex, as well as more endangered species such as the wild Bactrian camel, the snow leopard, the Gobi bear,, the takhi and the Asiatic wild ass.
The saiga antelope, once a common species, has been reduced by pressures including hunting, livestock grazing, and high Chinese medicinal value, with the Mongolian subspecies reaching a critically endangered level, with fewer than 5,000 individuals left in the wild. Przewalski's wild horse, in particular, had almost become extinct and was therefore reintroduced from captive sources. Other species of mammals reported include: argali, common wolf, Mongolian saiga, musk deer, Pallas's cat or manul, black tailed gazelle, stone martin, and wild cats in the Altai ecoregion; wild boar, red deer, roe deer in the forest areas and muskrat, red fox, steppe fox, and sable in the forest and steppe margin areas.
Under the World Wildlife Fund-Mongolia conservation programme, snow leopards, Altai argali sheep, saiga antelope and gazelle of eastern Mongolia are receiving special attention. The Zoological Society of London has taken interest in conservation of the Bactrian camel, long-eared jerboa, Mongolian gerbil and saiga antelope. Mongolia is also successfully implementing a program to protect the Gobi bear with support from China

Birds

The bird species in Mongolia include several that are very large. Six species of cranes present in Mongolia account for half the numbers in the world. There are 22 endangered species of birds including hawks, falcons, buzzards, cranes and owls. Though cranes are not hunted for superstitious reasons, they are still threatened due to habitat degradation and only 5,000 breeding pairs are reported, mostly in Dornod's Mongol Daguur Biosphere Reserve. In eastern Mongolia, a critically endangered species of crane is the white naped crane. Overall there are 469 species of birds, including domesticated species linked to wild ancestral species. Of these, 330 are migratory and 119 are seen throughout the year. Species identified include: golden eagle, lammergeyer, spoonbills, Dalmatian pelican, great white egrets, whooper swans, great black-headed gulls, black storks, swan goose and Altai snowcock.

Aquatic life

The rivers and lakes of Mongolia are reported to have 76 species of fish, including trout, grayling, roach, lenok, Siberian sturgeon, perch, Altai osman and the taimen.

Threats and conservation

In a country where Russia was supporting the economy with grants until it became independent in 1990, the situation drastically changed after independence. The country's revenue then depended more from the wildlife resources and its landscape, which were subject to serious exploitation necessitating a policy change towards ecotourism to generate revenue to preserve the remaining biodiversity of the country.
Other than official action to raise resources of the state, other major threats faced are illegal hunting, grazing of pasture livestock and related needs of water resources, climate change, fires in steppe and forests and severe cold and drought.
For conservation of the rich biodiversity of the country, the government of Mongolia has established national parks and nature reserves supplemented with laws on hunting regulations and other conservation measures, and also on hunting and fishing for sport and for commercial purposes.