Aksu Zhabagly National Nature Reserve founded in 1926 is the oldest in Central Asia and one of the easiest visited of Kazakhstan’s nature reserves. It preserves part of the Talasky Alatau range of the western Tian Shan Mountains. The reserve, at the west end of the Talassky Alatau range, is the most northwesterly spur of the Tian Shan, extends from the edge of the steppe at about 1200m up to 4239m at Pik Sayram. It offers a range of environments from steppe to upland meadows, juniper forest and snow-capped mountaintops fringed by large glaciers.

The reserved name came from the two main rivers flowing through its territory. The River Aksu means ‘white water’, the color obtained from its passage through the limestone mountains. The River Zhabagly is named from the Kazakh word meaning ‘one-year-old horse’. A legend surrounding this name tells of how the first settler of this picturesque valley, arriving here with his family, was forced to leave to join his tribe’s folk in a war. In his absence, the family members he had left in the valley were kidnapped by bandits, his livestock slaughtered and his yurt razed to the ground. When the hero returned from the war he found an only scorched ground where his yurt had stood. In total despair, the horse he had left as a foal suddenly ran towards him, having miraculously survived both the bandits and the subsequent winter. The hero saw the horse’s appearance as a sign that he should not give up and persevered with the establishment of a settlement on the banks of the river he named in his horse’s honor.