Zov Tigra National Park

Zov Tigra National Park is located in the east of Primorsky Krai, on the border of three districts: Lazovsky, Olginsky and Chuguevsky. In the Middle Ages, these areas were home to towns and villages of the Bohai State and the Golden Empire of the Churchens.

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There are many fascinating trips to be taken here. For example, go to Mount Snezhnaya to the sources of the Ussuri River – the largest river of the region, the right tributary of the Amur. By the way, the Ussuri River is a natural border between Russia and China.

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‘ Highlights

There are 56 mountain peaks over 1,000 meters high in the Call of the Tiger National Park. Mount Oblachnaya (1854 meters) is the highest point of Primorye. Climbing it is not a simple matter at all: there are practically no special access roads. All efforts are justified a hundredfold when from the top you get a stunning view of the Ussuri River, Snezhnaya and Sestra mountains. It seems that the whole region is like in the palm of your hand. At the top of Oblachnaya there is a stone tower – a shelter from the wind, built by tourists. According to tradition, everyone climbing this mountain must bring a stone for the tower – by counting the stones, you can find out how many daredevils were able to take the height.

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There are eight picturesque waterfalls in the park. One of the most beautiful is considered the Divny waterfall on the Milogradovka River, the height of which is 7 meters. Every second 2-3 m³ of water falls down. You can go to the Blue and Pink rapids and admire how the river flows “dance” on colored rocky ledges, or visit the tract of Muta, where the unusual landscape of swampy tundra stretches for dozens of kilometers.

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‘ Cloud Mountain
‘ Mountains Sister and Brother

The park has interesting and unusual mountains: Sestra (318 meters) and Kamen Brat (242 meters). They rise above the valleys of the Ussuri and Milogradovka rivers, but are themselves located directly on the bank of the Suchan River, 2.5 km from Nakhodka. Interestingly, both mountains (hills) have almost the correct form of a three-sided pyramid, so some local historians consider them similar to the Egyptian pyramids.

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Between Brother and Sister stretches the summit ridge, which is crowned by giant remnants from 15 to 30 meters high. At times they take very bizarre shapes, so the locals nicknamed them Dragon’s Teeth. These rocks are ancient reefs, the age of which is about 250 million years. Not far away there is a “relative” of these mountains – Nephew Hill. At the foot of Brat hill in ancient times there was a pagan temple. There was a belief that if you come to the mountain with pure thoughts and ask it for anything, it will definitely come true.

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‘ General Information
  • Full name: Zov Tigra National Park.
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  • IUCN Category: II (national park).
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  • Date of foundation: June 2, 2007.
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  • Region: Primorsky Krai, Lazovsky, Olginsky and Chuguevsky districts.
  • Region: Primorsky Krai, Lazovsky, Olginsky and Chuguevsky districts.
  • Area: 82152 hectares
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  • Relief: mountainous.
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  • Climate: monsoon.
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  • Official website: http://zov-tigra.ru/.
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  • E-mail: zovtigra@mail.ru.

History of creation

There are two national parks in Primorsky Krai, organized only a few years ago and having rather unusual names: “Udegean Legend” and “Call of the Tiger”. Scientists wanted to create a national park in Lazovsky district 20 years ago. It was then that specialists of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences began to develop a long-term program of nature protection and rational use of natural resources of Primorsky Krai. Yuri Ivanovich Beresnev, a well-known Primorsky scientist and later the park’s director, together with his colleagues substantiated the necessity of preserving the unique natural objects of Primorsky Krai. Initially, the organizers wanted to call the park “Upper-Ussuri”, but then came to the conclusion that “Call of the Tiger” would be closer, clearer and more interesting to people, because the population of the Ussuri tiger in Russia a few years ago was on the verge of extinction.

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If people had not heard nature’s desperate call for help, perhaps there would not be a single striped “amba” left in the Ussuri taiga today. That’s what the locals call tigers.

‘ National Park

Plant life

Since the Call of the Tiger National Park has only recently been established, an accurate inventory of the flora has not yet been made. At the same time, the general patterns of formation of plant communities and species lists of plants have been described with great diligence. About 96% of the park’s area is occupied by forests. Siberian cedar (Pinus sibirica) and Amur velvet (Phellodendron amurense) are among the main tree species. Taking into account the mountainous character of the relief, the vegetation is characterized by altitudinal belt. But two species of larch – Olginskaya and Komarova larch (Larix olgensis and L. komarovii) – are found here almost everywhere.

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‘ The Ussuri tiger is the northernmost and smallest subspecies of tigers

The Amur, or Far Eastern, tiger is not only the northernmost subspecies of the cat family, but also the world’s smallest. In 1996, according to different calculations, there were from 415 to 476 individuals. The highest density of these animals is noted exactly in Lazovsky district.

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‘ The fish owl is on the verge of extinction and is listed in the Red Book of Russia

Many rare and endemic species of birds nest on the territory of the national park. These are the scaly mole (Mergus squamatus), fish owl (Bubo blakistoni), black stork (Ciconia nigra), white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), mandarin duck (Aix galericulata), barred owl (Ninox scutulata) and others. Fish owl, by the way, today belongs to the rarest birds of Russia, is listed in the Red Book and is on the verge of extinction. This one of the largest representatives of the owl family feeds mainly on fish, preferring salmon. It hunts not only at night, but also during the daytime.

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‘ class=”fancybox” >The Chinese perch, or aukha, is preserved in our country only in the Amur River basin and its tributaries, as well as in the northwestern reservoirs of Sakhalin

The fish fauna of the water bodies of the national park (in particular, the Ussuri River and its tributaries) has one peculiarity. Representatives of pure mountain rivers, such as common taimen (Hucho taimen), sharp-finned lenok (Brachymystax lenok) and Siberian grayling (Thymallus arcticus) live here. At the same time, the park is home to fish that prefer warm standing muddy water bodies: crucian carp (Carassius carassius), catfish (Silurus glanis), carp (Cyprinus carpio), fiddler (Pseudobagrus fulvidraco) and ayxa (Siniperca chuatsi). By the way, the last species of fish is listed in the Red Book of Russia, although it is quite common in China. There, ayxa leads the list of the most delicious freshwater fish.

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Park regime

In the national park “Call of the Tiger” a number of interesting tourist routes have been developed, among which are “Sister and Kamen-Brat Mountains”, “Cloud Mountain”, “Snezhnaya Mountain”, “Milogradovka River”. There are many attractions and natural monuments in the park, which are worth seeing at least once in a lifetime.

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How to get there

To get to the national park “Call of the Tiger”, you need to get to the villages of Lazo or Chuguevka. The route to Lazo has already been described earlier, and to Chuguevka there is a daily bus from Vladivostok, where you can fly by plane (travel time from Moscow is 7 hours and 40 minutes) or take a train (the road takes 5-6 days).

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Where to stay

In Lazo village you can stay in a hotel or rent a room or house from locals. On the territory of the park itself it is allowed to pitch a tent. In Chuguevka there is the park’s visitor center, where you can also stay.

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