Kyrk-Kazyk Caves

The Kyrk-Kazyk Caves ("forty stakes") are a karst cave system in the limestone of the Ak-Kyr ridge, in the Sary-Bulak District of the Irad Special Economic Zone. About 1.8 kilometers of passages have been surveyed. Their name comes from the stalagmites in the main chamber.^[1] The caves hold hibernating colonies of greater and lesser horseshoe bats, the largest known in Irad, counted at about 2,300 bats in the winter of 2018. Since 2004 the ISEZ has protected them as a natural monument, and the entrance is gated in winter.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ Talas State University Speleological Group (2019). 'Karst and Caves of the Sary-Bulak Foothills.' Iradi Geographical Journal, Vol. 31, pp. 44–61.
2. ^ Talas State University, Department of Zoology (2017). Birds of the Talas Valley and Adjacent Ranges. Talas: Talas State University Press.