Getting There
The park is 113km southwest of Ulaanbaatar, making this an easy place to reach from the capital by car or minivan.
What to Expect
Khustain National Park was set up in 1993 specifically to protect the takhi who were reintroduced into the wild here in 1992. Guided tours lead you among their habitat of grassy steppe and forested surrounds for up close encounters of this species brought back from the brink of extinction.
Also in the park are maral (Asiatic red deer), steppe gazelle, deer, boar, Pallas’s cats, wolves, lynx, marmot and some 223 species of birds. In addition to wildlife watching you can take a horse ride trek to visit nearby Turkic stone monuments.
History
After it was last sighted in the late 1960s, the takhi was officially declared extinct from Mongolia due to poaching, overgrazing by domestic animals, and human encroachment. However, with a few animals remaining in zoos around the world, a breeding programme was initiated to reintroduce them to the wilds of Mongolia. This led to the establishment of this 50,620-hectare reserve to protect the takhi, of which today there are around 350 or so here in the wild.
Facilities Available
There are several tourist ger camps at the park’s entrance, all which offer restaurants and wi-fi. The tourist information centre offers plenty of useful info on the park’s history and biodiversity.
