News

The Commission of the Institute of Zoology, formed by order No. 30-P dated November 14, 2023, reviewed and made changes to the list of Kazakh animal names and zoological terminology based on decisions made during discussions. On May 10, 2024, a meeting was held to reconsider the Kazakh name of the Przewalski’s horse, with the participation of Daniyar Galymovich Turgambaev, Chairman of the Committee for Forestry and Wildlife of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This was due to disagreements among historians and ethnographers regarding the correspondence of the Kazakh name “керқұлан” (“kerqulan”). Historians and ethnographers proposed replacing the Kazakh name of the Przewalski’s horse with “кертағы” (“kertaghy”).

The organizers of the conference were the Institute of Zoology of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Palace of Schoolchildren of the Department of Education of Almaty, and the Republican Educational and Methodological Center for Additional Education of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

On March 6, 2024, the UNESCO chair for Sustainable Development of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University held an international round table dedicated to the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The purpose of the event was to familiarize students with the contribution of women to science, their achievements and difficulties on the way to professional success, as well as to contribute to the formation of a positive moral assessment of the activities of women scientists in the name of science and progress, the development of productive thinking.

23.11.2023 at the Department of Civil Law, Civil Procedure and Labor Law held a scientific seminar on the topic: «Implementation of separate provisions of European law on contractual responsibility in relation to the UN SDG». The speaker was Ilina Viktoriya, Deputy Chairman of the Kazakhstan National Committee of the UNESCO Program «Man and the Biosphere», the main expert of the “Institute of Zoology” CS MSHE RK Doctoral student of the 1st year of Kazakh National University named after Al-Farabi. The head of the Department of Civil Law, Civil Procedure and Labour Law, Professor Suleimenova Saule, held the moderation of the scientific seminar and discussion.

In order to exchange experience, develop international cooperation and our research capabilities in the scientific project “Assessment of bioresources in the Kazakh part of the Irtysh basin under conditions of transboundary water resources use and climate change” we attracted a foreign scientific consultant Sofia Stepanovna Barinova – Associate Professor and Head of the Laboratory of “Algal Ecology and Biodiversity” at the Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Israel.

As you know, at our Institute on April 13-16th a conference “Zoological research in Kazakhstan: results, problems and perspectives” was held, it was devoted to the 90th anniversary of the Institute of Zoology. The work of the conference, in which about 210 specialists participated, was held in 7 sections, 3 round tables and plenary sessions during 3 full days. All in all more than 140 reports were made (working languages – Kazakh, English, Russian), including 14 plenary ones. And that’s not counting more than 120 participants who took part by correspondence with the publication of articles.

Today, April 1, is International Bird Day, a day dedicated to protecting feathered birds and drawing attention to their vital role in nature. Birds are exceptionally interesting members of the animal kingdom and one of the groups of animals that humans encounter on a daily basis. In honor of Bird Day, we will hold several events to get better acquainted with them.

The IUCN Save Our Species gazelle conservation project implemented by the Institute of Zoology together with Marwell Wildlife and Wildlife Without Borders is coming to an end, and we offer a look at one of its results.

As you may remember, in 2019 in Turkestan region we recorded the mass death of reptiles in the deep (up to 2.2 m) multi-kilometer trenches, which were used to fence agricultural fields. Different species of reptiles fall into these trenches, such as the Central Asian tortoise, yellowbelly, boa constrictors and some other species of animals.

In early February 2022, employees of the Institute of Zoology took part in the annual winter count of ungulates listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan – gazelles, argali and kulans in Altyn-Emel National Park.