Katon-Karagay National Park releases new winter camera trap footage
Katon-Karagay National Park has released a new batch of camera trap footage, with its winter scenes quickly captivating viewers, Qazinform News Agency reports.
Siberian ibex take center stage as the stars of a high-altitude “series” captured without a director, featuring real drama, strong personalities, and an ongoing storyline.
Park staff at Katon-Karagay State National Natural Park report that nearly all of the more than 70 videos captured this time feature mountain goats, filmed during their active winter period and the recent rutting season.
“Sometimes it feels less like observation and more like a real TV series. There’s a charismatic main character, clever rivals, and of course the females everyone is competing for,” park specialists say with a smile.
One of the videos captured a rare sight: a Siberian ibex and an Altai snowcock—a rare bird listed in Kazakhstan’s Red Book—appearing together in the same frame for the first time. Scientists note that such occurrences are particularly valuable, as camera traps allow the observation of scenes that are nearly impossible to record under normal field conditions.
The winter footage was captured during the period when ibex herds naturally organize themselves. Typically, each group includes a single adult male, several females, and yearlings from the previous season.
"These shots feature the adult male—the so-called ‘harem master.’ The number of yearlings provides insight into the success of the previous breeding season and the survival rate of the young," explain researchers from the park’s scientific department.
As Qazinform previously reported, five rare species, including the snow leopard, were spotted in the Ile-Alatau National Park.
