Black widow spiders invade Kazakhstan’s Bayanaul National Park again

The employees of the Bayanaul National Park have recently discovered black widows’ egg sacs on the rocky areas of the north-eastern coast of the lake, which proves high possibility of re-invasion of dangerous insects in summer season.

“In March, we inspected the areas where the black widows were spotted last year. We found their egg sacs among the stones. In cold months, the spiders hide in crevices, and with the onset of warm weather, they come to the surface. The use of chemicals is prohibited in the territory of the National Park. We hand pick the eggs, put them in special containers and burn them. Similar activities were conducted on an area of 30 hectares last year. In the nearest time, our specialists will start again destroying the egg sacs. Besides, we have submitted an official request to the administration of Toraigyr district, to treat the territory outside the National Park with chemicals,” Murat Zhassulan, a research fellow of the Science and Monitoring Department of the National Park, says.

Black widows have been detected in the National Park’s territory for the third year in a row. In 2023, the employees of the park collected and destroyed 1,593 egg sacs and 356 female black widows, and in 2024 - 523 egg sacs and 124 female black widows.

Governor of Bayanaul district Ardak Ksentayev noted that chemical treatment against spiders will be carried out this year on the areas belonging to the Toraigyr rural district (outside the park).He said that 1.8 million tenge was allocated for this purpose from the local budget to treat some 150 hectares of land. The National Park staff is urging vacationers planning trips to Lake Toraigyr to exercise special caution, as the black widow’s bite may cause a serious threat to health.  

As it was reported, 485 camels were bitten by black widow spiders in Atyrau region in June-July 2024 which led to death of 90 animals.