Askaniia-Nova Biosphere Reserve

Askaniia-Nova Biosphere Reserve (Біосферний заповідник « Асканія-Нова»ім. Ф. Фальц-Фейна; Biosfernyi zapovidnyk Askaniia-Nova im. F. Falts-Feina). See Google Map. A state nature preserve in the steppe near the town of Askaniia-Nova, Chaplynka raion in Kherson oblast (on the territory currently occupied by the Russian Federation). The oldest (and, arguably, the best known) nature preserve in Ukraine; also the world’s oldest nature preserve established in an open steppe terrain. A zoo was founded there in 1874 by a Prussian colonist, Friedrich Falz-Fein, on the lands of his father, a wealthy landowner. He acclimatized wild animals from Asia, Africa, America, and Australia that were related to extinct species of steppe fauna. In 1887 Falz-Fein set up also a regional and natural studies museum, botanical garden, and park. The latter represented one of the earliest attempts in Ukraine to transplant forest trees into the steppe environment; this became possible thanks to the construction of an elaborate irrigation system based on 70-m deep wells, which, with some modifications, remains fully operational until today. In 1898 the reserve—consisting of an open steppe nature preserve, a zoological park, and a dendrological park—was officially launched and opened to the public. In 1910 Professor I. Ivanov worked at the reserve and conducted experiments in acclimatizing the wild Przewalski horse and the European bison, and in crossing the European bison with the buffalo, the bison-buffalo with horned cattle, the zebra with the domesticated horse, and so on. The Askaniia-Nova reserve was particularly important in the process of saving the wild Przewalski horses from extinction. Falz-Fein was one of the primary initiators of capturing Przewalski horses in Mongolia and he preserved a sizable herd at his reserve. The entire world’s population of wild Przewalski horses today (7 percent of which lives in the Askaniia-Nova Biosphere Reserve) consists, in essence, of the descendants of that herd safeguarded in Askaniia-Nova by Falz-Fein.

During the revolutionary period of Ukraine’s struggle for independence (1917–20) a local peasant, Klym Siianko, who was a self-taught zoologist and Falz-Fein’s assistant, saved the reserve from complete ruin. (Having left Askaniia-Nova in 1917, Falz-Fein was unable to return to his estate and died in Berlin in 1920.) On 8 February 1921 the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic declared Askaniia-Nova a national nature preserve under government supervision. An experimental station, zoo, botanical garden, zootechnical station, and breeding farm were maintained at the enlarged reserve in 1921–5 under Mikhail Ivanov. In 1932 the All-Union Scientific Research Institute for the Acclimatization and Hybridization of Animals was established there. In 1956 the institute was renamed the M.F. Ivanov ‘Askaniia-Nova’ Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute of Animal Husbandry of the Steppe Regions. In 1985, UNESCO designated the Askaniia-Nova Nature Reserve a biosphere reserve under the United Nations’ Man and the Biosphere program. In 1993, the biosphere status of the reserve was confirmed by a special decree issued by President Leonid Kravchuk, and in 1994 the reserve was named after Friedrich Falz-Fein.

Today the Askaniia-Nova Biosphere Reserve has a total area of 33,307.6 ha and consists of a 11,054 ha section of virgin fescue-feather grass steppe, a large research farm, an acclimatization zoological garden (with an area of 61.6 ha), a 196.6 ha dendrological park, and a botanical garden. The task of the reserve is to preserve and study the virgin steppe with its wild flora and fauna and to acclimatize, study, and breed plants, birds, and animals that have agricultural value. The reserve’s dendrological park and botanical garden contain 1647 species of plants, including many rare ones. The reserve is home to about 270 species of wild bird (the steppe eagle among them), roe deer, fallow and sika deer, hare, Askanian steppe bucks, bats, moles, squirrels, rock martens, and other animals. Its territory, and in particular the Great Chapli Depression wetlands (with an area of 4 x 6 km) which is listed on the list of Ramsar Convention sites, is of particular importance for migratory birds, especially for the migration of very large flocks of cranes and graylag and white-fronted geese. The zoo contains a unique collection of 114 species of wild animals (including 99 exotic species), such as antelopes, European bison, buffalos, zebras, Przewalski horses, and others. Among the wild birds are ostriches, flamingoes, American rheas, and casuari. Experiments in hybridization have been performed in the zoo. In the dendrological park the acclimatization of various trees and bushes that are suitable for foresting the dry regions of southern Ukraine has been studied. The Askaniia-Nova Biosphere Reserve houses 30 species of flora and 32 species of fauna that are included in Ukraine’s Red Book, as well as 12 species of flora and 8 animal species that are included in Europe’s Red Book. The reserve also boasts of many medieval Cuman stone baby brought over from all over the Ukrainian steppe region. Prior to the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, about 140,000 tourists visited the Askaniia-Nova reserve every year.

The area around the Askaniia-Nova Biosphere Reserve was captured by the Russian Federation’s forces soon after their full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. However, the Russian troops entered the reserve itself only in October 2022 and established their base on the grounds of the dendrological park, causing considerable damage to the ecosystem. On 20 March 2023 the reserve was fully taken under the control of the occupiers and the Russian administration (which does not include any scientists or relevant specialists) was established over the entire complex. Since then numerous animals on the reserve have died and dozens of the reserve’s rarest and most expensive species (such as Chapman’s zebras, Przewalski horses, Père David’s deer, and bisons) have been moved to zoos in the Crimea and the Russian Federation, primarily to Rostov-na-Donu. The current amount of damage to the reserve caused by the occupation authorities is estimated in over 6 billion hryvni. The future fate of the Askaniia-Nova Biosphere Reserve under Russian occupation remains highly uncertain.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Visti Derzhavnoho stepovoho zapovidnyka ‘Chapli’, 1–7 (Kharkiv–Askaniia-Nova, 1924–9)
Trudy Nauchno-issledovatel'skogo instituta gibridizatsii i akklimatizatsii zhivotnykh Askaniia-Nova imeni akad. M.F. Ivanova, 1–3 (Moscow 1935–49)
Bielozerov, S. Askaniia-Nova (Kharkiv 1960)
Treus, V.; Kramarenko, V. Zapovidnyk ‘Askaniia-Nova’ (Kyiv 1968)
The reserve’s official website: http://askania-nova-zapovidnik.gov.ua/

Marko Robert Stech, Edvard Zharsky

[This article was updated in 2025.]