The Flamingo © A. Scherbina

The Fauna of the Reserve is very diverse. The Reserve is rich in vertebrates represented by approximately 420 species. It is 48 species of fish, 2 species of amphibian, 26 species of reptiles, and 42 species of mammals, some of which are in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan.

The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) © A. Scherbina

The largest class is birds. Reserve’s avifauna consists of more than 312 species related to 21 orders. There are rare and disappearing species 16 of which are in IUCN list, and 30 included into the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan. The most numerous are waterfowls and land birds (almost 120 kinds). They serve as the landscape indicator of preserved nature because more than 80% of the Reserve area is the water-marsh surface. Their uniqueness and participation in hydrochemical and hydrobiological regimes of the sea allowed to include these territories into the List of Water-Marsh territories of international significance (in compliance with the Ramsar Convention and decisions of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Reserve has been awarded with the Certificate of Quality of the Wetlands International Committee.

During the summer period reserved islands and coast area becomes a natural habitat for tens of bird species including rare ones - gallinule, dikkop, eagle owl, etc. The big cormorants, great-crested grebe, little bittern, shelduck, wild duck, marsh harrier, long-legged buzzard, kestrel, Barbary and see-see partridge, moorhen, coot, stilt, little ringed plover, red-capped dotterel and thick-billed plover, redshank, slender-billed gull, larus, gull-billed tern, sandwich tern, common tern, little tern and many others form colonies numbering tens, hundreds, and sometimes thousand pairs. Blue rock pigeon, ringdove and laughing dove, little owl, doree, Egyptian nightjar, halcyon, golden and green bee-eater, hoopoe, and numerous perching birds are frequent.

The Pike Perch (Stizostedion) © A. Scherbina

All abundance and variety of birds, comfortably feeling on Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea, speaks for not only cozy bays well protected from storm and gulfs, but also the richest forage of phyto- and zooplankton and zoobenthos. Water areas of the reserve branches have huge value for preservation and replenishment of 48 fish species and subspecies of which four – ship, black-backed shad, Caspian and white salmon – are recorded in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan. Ajiyab site of Esenguly branch serves as a spawning ground for Caspian roach and European carp; most of the sea sites are spawning ground for bullheads and herring, and fattening places for other fishes, including sturgeon.

The Trans-Caspian Sun Spider © A. Scherbina

Tens species of Arachnida and hundreds species of insects inhabit the reserve. Three of those are recorded in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan – Bolivaria brachyptera, Dark-wing grasshopper, and Axiopoena maura. There are two species of amphibian – green toad and lake frog – and 29 species of reptilian of which desert monitor and Central Asian cobra are in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan; more than 49 species of mammal, seven of which – caracal, Pallas' cat, striped hyena, otter, Caspian seal, goitred and porcupine – considered as rare or disappearing species.

The Sandy Boa © A.Scherbina	The Caspian Seal (Phoca Caspica) © P.Yerokhin