Zorkul Nature Reserve

Zorkul lies at around four thousand one hundred metres on the southeastern Pamir plateau, a long shallow lake in a wide valley of wet meadow and marsh, protected as a strict nature reserve - a reserve for the geese from 1972, raised to a full nature reserve of about 1,610 square kilometres in 2000. The lake itself covers some 3,900 hectares and is only about six metres deep. It is a breeding site for bar-headed geese, the birds that migrate over the Himalaya, and Marco Polo sheep range on the surrounding slopes. The reserve is remote, permits beyond the standard regional one are needed, and there is no infrastructure.

What you'll find

• The bar-headed geese - the high-altitude migrant breeding on the lake.
• The Marco Polo sheep - the wild sheep of the surrounding Pamir slopes.
• The wet meadows - marsh and grassland around the lake at 4100 metres.
• The plateau - the wide open Pamir valley the lake sits in.

When to go

July to September is the only practical window. Permits take time and additional reserve authorisation is required. Nights are below freezing even in summer.

What to expect

Both a GBAO permit and separate reserve authorisation are required and arrangements take time. The altitude is serious and there is no help within hours. There is no accommodation, fuel or supply of any kind.

Nearby

Murghab is north, and the Wakhan valley is west.

Key facts