The largest state on the planet, Russia, has about 50 operating national parks on its territory. Most of them are located in the European territory of the country. One of the rich natural places of our state is the national park "Mari Chodra", the sights of which will be discussed in the article.
General information about the park
National Park "Mari Chodra" is located in the territories of Morkinsky, Zvenigovsky and Volzhsky districts in the Republic of Mari-El, which is a subject Russian Federation... The area of \u200b\u200bthe park is 366 square kilometers. It was created in 1985 with the aim of protecting rare plant species, of which there are more than 100, from extinction. Photos of the Mari Chodra National Park can be seen in the article.
There are about 15 tourist routes... The main attractions of the Mari Chodra National Park are lakes, for example, Yalchik, Glukhoe, Kichier, as well as the Ilet and Yushut rivers. One of the places frequently visited by tourists is the Pugachev's Oak. Tourism in the park plays an important economic role for the republics of Mari-El, Tatarstan and Chuvashia.
The state organization FSBI "Mari Chodra National Park" controls and carries out tourist and security activities in the park. The property of this organization is a number of natural objects and complexes located in the Middle Volga region.
Perhaps this is one of the favorite places of tourists who come to rest on the territory of the Mari Chodra National Park. On the shores of the lake, there are several recreation centers that provide services for renting boats, bicycles and other equipment. According to tourists, there is a beautiful sand beach with a magnificent view of the lake shores, and the territory of the recreation centers is quite well-groomed, there are shops. Tourists also speak positively about the food, which is varied and delicious.
Lake Yalchik is one of the largest natural reservoirs in the park. It consists of two small lakes connected by a bridge. In summer, when the region is hot, this cofferdam often dries up, completely separating one lake from another. Perch, pike and other types of fish are found in the waters of Yalchik, so for those who like fishing, a visit to one of the recreation centers on the banks of the Yalchik will be a good choice.
Ilet river
This is one of the popular tourist destinations of the Mari Chodra National Park. The river has a length of more than 200 km, most of it is located in the park. The river itself is not wide (several tens of meters), the banks of the upper Ileta are steep, and the banks of the middle and lower reaches are gentle, sandy beaches are often found on them. Mixed forests surround.
The Ilet River is famous for the fact that amateurs come to it active rest for the purpose of rafting on it, mainly by kayaks and catamarans. The flow of the river is calm at a speed of 3-6 km / h, therefore it is well suited for beginner lovers of kayaking. There are several routes for rafting down the river, their length ranges from 20 to 90 km.
Pugachev's oak
Perhaps, rest in the park "Mari Chodra" cannot be imagined without excursions to Maple Mountain, where it grows. The peculiarity of the oak is its size and age, so the diameter and height of the tree are 1.59 m and 26 m, respectively, and the age, according to modern estimates, over 400 years. A stone was placed near this giant, on which there is an inscription testifying to the events that took place in the second half of the 18th century on Maple Hill.
According to one of the legends, Emelyan Pugachev himself climbed up this oak before making a trip to Kazan. According to another legend, the leader of the uprising climbed a tree after the defeat near Kazan to see how it burns in flames. In any case, it is reliably known that Pugachev's troops were in the summer of 1774 in the forests near the Maple Mountain.
As for Pugachev's Oak himself, he could have witnessed the uprising, but Pugachev could not climb on it, because at that time the tree was still too small. It is believed that Emelyan Pugachev, if he climbed a tree, it was another oak, which was even larger than the existing one. It dried up long ago and was cut down in the 40s of the XX century.
Currently, excursions to the Pugachev's Oak are carried out both in summer by bicycles and cars, and in winter - by skiing.
National Park "Mari Chodra" - "Mari Forest"
Address: 425090 Republic of Mari El, Zvenigovsky district, pos. Krasnogorskiy - the Moscow-Yoshkar-Ola train and the Moscow-Yoshkar-Ola-Kazan highway.
National Park Mari Chodra, in Morkinsky Morkinsky, Zvenigovsky and Volzhsky districts of the Republic of Mari-El was established in 1995. Its area is 36.6 thousand hectares
The park is located in the basin of the Ilet River, a left tributary of the Volga River, not far from the border with Tatarstan - 30 km from the city of Volzhsk and 60 km from the city of Yoshkar-Ola.
Mari Chodra is famous for its rivers (tributaries of the Ilet-river) Yushut, Petyalka, Uba, Voncha, as well as for its numerous picturesque lakes. Many lakes contain fango.
Karst Lake Tot-Er
Lake Yalchik
Other lakes: Kichier, Melnichnoe, Teterkino, Mushan-Er, Konan-Er, Shut-Er, Kuzh-Er, Ergezh-Er (Round), Kugu-Er, etc.
National Park "Mari Chodra" - Photo
Boiling Square and Green Key r. Ilet
An ice-free mineral spring on the Yushut river
Maple mountain
At the foot of the Maple Mountain Shungaltan Hydrogen Sulphide Lake
Lake Long Kuzh-Er
Teal Whistle - Anas crecca
Lake Okunevo
The park includes a part of the Mari-Vyatka swell, highlands (Klenovaya, Kerebeliakskaya mountains, etc.) and serves as a resting place for residents of Chuvashia, Tatarstan and Mari El.
The vegetation cover is sub-taiga coniferous-deciduous forests.
On a hill, areas of oak forests with an admixture of maple, linden, spruce; in the valleys there are mixed forests of spruce, pine, linden, oak, maple, aspen, elm and floodplain oak forests.
There are pine forests with an admixture of aspen, birch and spruce. Some small areas are occupied by eutrophic grass bogs.
Birch mane
Old Kazan (Galitsky) tract
Pugachev fields
Lake Gryazevoe - floodplain of the Ilet river
Deaf lake - the attraction of the national park "Mari Chodra"
The flora is taiga, forest-steppe and steppe species. About 50 plants are rare for the Mari El flora.
Common for the life of the animals of the protected area are elk, squirrel, chipmunk, European hare, least, weasel, ermine, European ferret, marten; among the inhabitants of the mammal beaver (reacclimatized) and otter.
Inhabitants, grouse birds (Tetraonidae) include black grouse, capercaillie, hazel grouse; from birds of prey - buzzard, goshawk, kite; sometimes a golden eagle appears. On floodplain lakes - mallard and European teal.
On reservoirs, it is possible for the gogol to live - a typical forest duck, making nests in hollows.
Deryaba - Turdidae
Thrush-fieldfare - Turdus pilaris
Linnet - Cannabina cannabina
Bullfinch - Pyrrhula
Waxwing - Bombycilla
Seasonal concentrations of birds are small. In autumn, diving ducks temporarily stop on the lakes.
And the spring flight over the flooded rivers is more lively. In autumn and winter, bullfinches, waxwings, and sometimes nutcrackers migrate.
The park was founded in 1985 to preserve the standard natural complexes of the Republic of Mari El. Translated from the Mari language "Mari Chodra" means "Mari forest". The entire territory of the park is covered with beautiful pine forests and coniferous-deciduous forests. The park is decorated with clean and beautiful karst lakes, many of which are declared natural monuments. The attraction of the park is also in the abundance of mineral springs. The largest of them is the Green Spring, which water is used for healing.
Relief
The territory of the park is formed by the southern spurs of the Mari-Vyatka Uval. The southwestern part of the park is adjacent to the r. Volga. Most of the territory belongs to the Iletskiy high-flat southern taiga region with the development of modern karst, a smaller part - to the Polesskiy valley-terrace lake region of mixed forests. The area of \u200b\u200bthe park is a slightly undulating plain with island heights (Kerebeliakskaya, Klenovogorskaya), with absolute heights 75-125 m above sea level m. The highest absolute mark of the territory - the top of the Maple Mountain - 196.0 m above sea level. The active manifestation of the karst process led to the development of karst landforms - numerous craters, up to 50-60 m in diameter, and sinkhole-type lakes, up to 35-40 m deep.
Hydrology
Lakes. A significant number of picturesque lakes of karst origin are located in the park. Most of them are declared natural monuments, Glukhoe, Kichier, Yalchik, Ergezh-Er, Shut-Er, Kuzh-Er, Shungaldan. They are round or oblong in shape, up to 40 m deep, with a silt bottom. The lakes are fed by springs or small rivers and streams. Some of them have underground connections with neighboring rivers.
Lake Glukhoe is located 4 km east of the village. Yalchinsky. The shores of the lake are relatively high, steep, overgrown with forest. The lake area is 22.0 hectares, the maximum depth is 23 m, the length is 2140 m, the width is 100 m. The water is dark, brownish in color. The bottom of the lake is dense, partly sandy or limestone.
Lake Kichier is located in the Yalchinsky forestry. The shores are gentle, sandy, in places slightly swampy. The area of \u200b\u200bthe lake is 46.0 hectares, the maximum depth is 16 m, the total length is 3 km. Consists of three interconnected pools. The water is dark. The bottom is muddy. Silt is dark, black, with the smell of hydrogen sulfide.
Lake Yalchik is located in the Yalchinsky forestry. It consists of a central large basin and three adjacent ones, connected to it by narrow and shallow straits. The shores of the lake are mostly sandy and silty in places. The highest and steepest are the eastern and northern shores. On almost all sides the lake is surrounded by a mixed forest with a predominance of pine. The area of \u200b\u200bthe lake is about 150 hectares, the maximum depth is 35 m. The water is clear. The bottom is sandy.
Lake Ergezh-Er (translated from the Mari as Round). Located in the Kerebeliak forestry. It is part of the system of karst lakes located at the foot of the Kerebeliak Uplands. The area of \u200b\u200bthe lake is 4.5 hectares, the maximum depth is 13 m, the length is 350 m, the width is 150 m. The water is clear. Bottom sediments are insignificant.
Lake Shut-Er (translated from the Mari, Black). Located in the Kerebeliak forestry. It is part of the system of karst lakes located at the foot of the Kerebeliak Uplands ledge along its eastern steep slope. The area of \u200b\u200bthe lake is 28.9 hectares, the maximum depth is 17.5 m, the length is 1550 m, the width is 300 m. The water is dark in color. Bottom sediments are insignificant. Food is mixed (groundwater, springs, swamps). The banks are high, but not steep.
Lake Kuzh-Er (translated from the Mari Long). Located in the Kerebeliak forestry. It is part of the system of karst lakes located at the foot of the Kerebeliak Uplands ledge along its eastern steep slope. The area of \u200b\u200bthe lake is 25.0 hectares, the maximum depth is 26.5 m, the length is 1300 m, the width is 200 m. The transparency of the water is 4 m. It is fed from underground waters, partly from the springs of the western shore. Bottom sediments are insignificant. Northern and south coast swampy. The western bank is high (about 40 m). From the northern corner of the lake flows a channel that flows into the lake. Ergezh Er.
Lake Shungaldan is located 1.5 km from the Green Key mineral spring, on the left bank of the river. Ilet. The lake is oval in shape, failed in origin, with muddy shores. In water, the content of hydrogen sulfide reaches 50-75 mg per 1 liter, which gives water valuable medicinal properties for external use in the form of baths.
Mineral spring Zeleny Klyuch is located at the foot of Klenovaya Gora, 1.8 km from the mouth of the river. Yushut. The spring water rises from the bottom of a funnel, the diameter of which is about 2 m, and partially flows out from under the base of Klenovaya Gora, joining into one stream, up to 6 m wide and 0.7–0.8 m deep. Ilet. Water consumption from 1000 to 1540 l / s. The water temperature is constant throughout the year and is 6.5 ° C. By chemical composition sulphate-calcium water.
Rivers. Main river Ilet Park crosses it from northeast to southwest and flows into the Volga. Its left-bank tributaries - r. Yushut, Arbaika, Uba. On the right, the river flows into it. Petyalka. Ilet flows along a plain with slightly undulating relief, covered with mixed forests, its speed is 0.2–0.8 m / s. The river does not freeze in winter. The river bed is meandering, composed of limestones and sands, subject to deformation, the banks are gentle, in places swampy. The channel width reaches 20–40 m.
The floodplain of the Ilet 'river is two-sided, up to 500 m wide, overgrown with bushes and mixed forests. In its floodplain and tributaries there are about 200 oxbows, where beavers, minks, muskrats, otters live, waterfowl nests, and fish are found. Many of the old women are rich in medicinal mud. During the warm season, the water content of the river allows tourist boats to pass.
Soil
The soil cover is varied due to differences in topography and underlying rocks. The most common soils (81% of the park area) include podzolic and soddy-podzolic soils.
Climate
The climate of the park is moderately continental. It is characterized by relatively hot summers and frosty winters with stable snow cover. The average temperature of the warmest month of July is 18.6 ° C. The absolute minimum air temperature in winter reaches -52 C. The average duration of the warm season with temperatures above 0 ° C is about 200 days.
The territory of the park belongs to the zone of unstable moisture: there are years with sufficient, sometimes excessive moisture, but there are also dry years. During the year, precipitation falls unevenly: the largest amount is observed in the summer, the least - in the winter. Annual precipitation is about 500 mm. The largest monthly precipitation is observed in July - 60–70 mm. The invasion of cold air masses from the polar basin with northerly, northwestern and northeasterly winds causes a sharp drop in temperature in winter, and frosts in spring and autumn. Often, continental air masses invade the park from the southeast. In spring or summer, they lead to dry conditions, in winter - clear, frosty weather.
Posted Wed, 07/07/2010 - 21:02 by Cap
(Mouth of Yushut - Confluence of Yushut and Ileta)
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT MARY CHODRA
National Park "Mari Chodra" was formed by the decree of the Government of the RSFSR No. 400 of 13.09.85 on the territory of the Republic of Mari El. Subordinate to the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Mari El. The name Mari Chodra is translated from the Mari - MARI FOREST.
The national park is located in the southeast of the Republic of Mari El, in its most economically developed part, on the territory of three administrative districts: Morkinsky, Zvenigovsky, Volzhsky. There are 5 settlements on the territory of the park, where about 15 thousand people live.
The area of \u200b\u200bthe national park is 36.6 thousand hectares, all land is provided to the national park. Forest land occupy 34.0 thousand hectares (92.9% of the park's territory), incl. covered with forest - 33.5 thousand hectares (91.5%). Non-forest lands occupy only 7.1% of the park's territory, among them: hayfields, pastures, arable lands - 1%, water - 2%, swamps - 1%, roads and glades - 2%, the rest are farmsteads and other lands. The national park is located at a distance of 60 km from the city of Yoshkar-Ola and 30 km from the city of Volzhsk. Its territory is crossed railway Yoshkar-Ola - Moscow and the Yoshkar-Ola - Kazan highway of republican significance.
RIVER ILYET FROM SHUNGALDAN CLIP - MAPLE MOUNTAIN
Functional zoning
In 1982, the Rosgiproles Institute (Moscow) developed a National Park Organization Project (feasibility study for the organization of a state natural park "Mari Chodra"). According to the design decisions, a differentiated regime of protection and use of lands has been established on the territory of the national park.
The following functional zoning is currently adopted:
The protected area is 7.6 thousand hectares (20.7% of the total area).
The area of \u200b\u200bextensive recreational use is 14.1 thousand hectares (38.6%).
The zone of intensive recreational use - 13.9 thousand hectares (38.1%).
Other territories - 1.0 thousand hectares (2.6%). The protected area of \u200b\u200bthe national park is 93.4 thousand hectares.
SULFUR HYDROGEN LAKE SHUNGALTAN AT THE FOOT MAPLE MOUNTAIN
PHYSICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS OF THE PARKMari Chodra
The park is located in the southeastern part of the Mari ASSR, in river basin Ilet- the left tributary of the Volga, and is part of the mixed forests of the forest zone.
The structure of the MASSR surface was investigated by B.F.Dobrynin (1933), and later by V.N.Smirnov (1957). Three main geomorphological areas were identified: the elevated northeastern, sandy lowland of the left bank of the Volga region, the region of the high right bank of the Volga. The geomorphology of the first region was influenced by the Mari-Vyatka shaft, in the southern end of which the Mari-Chodra national park is located.
The Mari-Vyatka shaft begins in the Kirov region, passes in the meridional direction along the Mari ASSR and ends in the Tatar Republic. It received the greatest development in the Mari ASSR. Its length here is about 130 km, width is up to 40 km, maximum height is 284 m above sea level. seas. The river valleys that cut through the rampart are deeply cut and in some places resemble mountain gorges... This area ( Mountain Zadel) B. F. Dobrynin refers to low-mountain areas. In the southerly direction, the rampart lowers and breaks up into separate wide uplands - Kerebeliak, Klenovogorskaya etc. The latter is located approximately in the center of the park.
A more modern and detailed physical and geographical zoning preserved the areas established by Dobrynin, and identified 6 physical and geographical areas in them. The territory of the natural park is included in the Iletskiy high-flat southern taiga region with the development of modern karst.
The rocks of the Kazan stage - limestones, dolomites, marls, sandstones, gray clays and gypsum - are distinguished by higher porosity and resistance to erosion processes than the layers of the Tatar stage. Therefore, the Kazan stage creates a more dissected relief, with steep slopes and karst formations (failure forms of relief), which is especially typical for the uplifts of the Mari-Vyatka swell: Stone Mountain, Cathai Mountains, B. and M. Karman-Kuryk, Maple Mountain and etc.
By the Quaternary period, the main features of the relief were the same as now. The leading role in the formation of the relief of the eastern part of the republic belonged to the Mari-Vyatka shaft. Getting closer to r. Iletthe rampart is dissected into tent-shaped heights, the southernmost of them - Maple Mountain.
There is a natural monument on Maple Mountain - Klenovogorskaya Dubrava!
COMPLEX OF NON-FREEZING MINERAL SPRINGS ON THE YUSHUT RIVER - VALLEY OF GEYSERS 
Lakes add a special beauty to the landscapes. In the forested valley of Ileta, there are many old river lakes of various sizes and shapes. All lakes are of failed origin, forest, except Kozhla-Solinsky... Among them there are also rich in curative mud. Larger and more accessible lakes - Yalchik , Kichier - already have on their shores health resorts. On Yalchik (length1600 m, width 250 - 900, depth up to32 m) a rest house, sports and recreation and pioneer camps are located. More than 300 people rest there. Known for its healing sanatorium "Klenovaya Gora"".
On lake Kichier, nearly equal to Yalchik, but with a shallow part overgrown in the east, there are two sanatoriums.
Mariy Chodra - OAK PUGACHEVA ON THE OLD KAZAN TRACT 
Glukhoe lakes, Conagnier (nearby Pugachev's oak), Mushander, Long (Kuzh-er) and smaller and more distant ones are mastered by unorganized tourists. Kozhla-Solinskoe lakelocated in the village of Krasnogorsk. The administrative center of the park is located on the shore of the lake.
The water of forest karst lakes is highly transparent, with the exception of peat lakes. Especially famous for this lake Yalchik... But, unfortunately, the overloading of the lake by vacationers, free visitors, and fishermen has recently led to an increase in the turbidity of the water.
The soil cover of the park is diverse due to differences in topography and underlying rocks. No soil survey was carried out for the entire territory of the park. Zonal sod-podzolic soils prevail. In some areas, the carbonate content of bedrock led to the formation of intrazonal soils. Mari-Chodra is included in the Shoro-Iletsky and partly in the Zvenigovsky soil regions. The dominant position is occupied by sandy and sandy loam weak and medium podzolic soils on ancient alluvial sands. They line, with the exception of the floodplains, the Ileta valley and its tributaries. Small areas among sandy and sandy loam soils in closed depressions are peat bog soils.
SEMIOSERKA - VALLEY OF SEVEN LAKES NEAR MAPLE MOUNTAIN
Closer to the bottoms of the Kerebeliak and Klenovogorsk Uplands, sod-weak and medium-podzolic sandy and sandy loamy soils were formed on thin ancient alluvial sands underlain by Permian clays and loams. On the sloping slopes of the hills, weak and medium podzolic sandy loam and loamy soils are developed. On steeper slopes, there are soddy-carbonate podzolized loams on Permian carbonate deposits.
In the Ileta floodplain, which is covered with forest within the natural park, sandy loam and light loamy floodplain layered soils (riverbed floodplain), granular floodplain soils (central floodplain), silt-boggy, peaty-silty-gley soils (near-terrace floodplain) are widespread. Buried floodplain soils are formed in places where bends develop, where the process of coastal destruction and sediment deposition of modern alluvium is actively taking place, especially during the flood of spring waters. Here, floodplain oak forests or linden forests, aspen forests and in places birch forests dominate, and alder forests in the near-terrace floodplain and inner parts of bends.
LAKE LONG (KUZH-ER) IS LOCATED IN THE SOUTH PART OF MARI CHODRA PARK 
VEGETATION OF THE PARK
The flora and vegetation of the park are diverse. Its territory is located at the southern boundary of the coniferous-deciduous forests of the subtaiga zone, and in floristic terms - at the junction of the European and West Siberian provinces of the Euro-Siberian floristic region.
The flora of this limited in area territory includes 774 species and subspecies from 363 genera of 93 families, which is more than 67% of the flora of the Mari ASSR. A number of taiga species, both European (European spruce) and Siberian (Siberian fir), are found here with elements of forest-steppe (summer oak) and steppes (feather grass).
In the communities of the national park, there is a combination of species belonging to the most different ecological-cenotic groups. This is especially characteristic of the vegetation of the Maple Mountain, which is a rare complex of biogeocenoses in the forest zone in the belt of coniferous-deciduous forests.
Pine forests grow mainly on sandy and sandy loam soils and account for 27.7% of forests. Pure green moss pine forests prevail among them, often with the participation of aspen, birch, and sometimes spruce. A special place belongs to sphagnum pine forests. Although their area is only about 600 hectares, they are an important component of the natural complex of the park.
Spruce forests are represented in a mosaic pattern and occupy only 3.3% of the forest area. They may include pine, birch, aspen.
On the hills, oak forests are developed with the participation of linden, maple, elm, elm with an admixture of conifers. These are upland oak forests (or their derivatives). They are similar to upland forest-steppe oak forests, but differ in the presence of representatives of the European and Siberian taiga. Maple-spruce-linden oak forests are more common.
It is known that river valleys, due to a number of ecological features, are channels for the penetration of vegetation from neighboring zones. This is also observed in the Ileta valley. Mixed forests are widely represented here (about 6.3% of the total forest area of \u200b\u200bthe park). They contain in different combinations spruce and linden, oak, maple, pine, birch, aspen, elm, elm; willows, black poplar (black poplar) are widespread along the riverbed; in the undergrowth and grass cover - nemoral-boreal elements. Directly in the floodplain, there are developed floodplain oak forests, near-channel shrub-forbs, medium-floodplain lime-runny, near-terrace elm-bird cherry forests. In the floodplains, small patches of post-forest meadow vegetation, steppe on the manes, are occasionally found.
A small area (219 ha) is occupied by low-lying grassy bogs, scattered mainly in the open landscape of the southern part of the park. The most famous is the Iron Swamp. Coastal aquatic vegetation is developed along the low-lying banks of rivers, their oxbows and lakes.
The flora of the park includes about 50 rare species, which is 1/4 of the list of rare and endangered species of local flora. Of the species listed in the Red Book of the USSR (1984), there is a real slipper and a red pollen head.
Relict plants can be seen on sphagnum bogs: marsh hamarbia, magellanic and string-rooted sedges, white wildcat, multifilament cotton grass, sundew. The relict species of various ages, the plants of the taiga-type forests: common ram, flattened and three-spiked diphaziums, alpine and Parisian two-petals, large-flowered single-flower, common weasel, sturgeon sedge; plants of deciduous and coniferous-deciduous forests: forest and pinnate short-legged, Beneken's rump, Japanese torilis; plants of the interglacial steppe flora: Borbash's carnation, we swing paniculata, greenish resin, Siberian bell, Potentilla seven-leaved, thyme, common mod, wormwood, sheep fescue, feather grass.
The rare species are located on the border of the range: in the north - laxative zhoster, apple tree, etc., in the south and south-west - red crow, I am spear-shaped, in the east - common heather, German gorse, in the west - Bunge starlet , Arnell's sedge, Ural tsitserbit.
Some plant species have become extinct as a result of the disappearance of plant communities. For example, from marsh - marsh dremlik, single-leaved pulp, compressed stream, Lapland willow, and from field - common cockle.
As a result of intensified exploitation, the endangered species include sandy cmin, pure white water lily, curly lily, Siberian iris, etc.
LAKE YALCHIK - THE BIGGEST LAKE IN THE PARK AND MARIY EL 
ANIMAL WORLD PARKMari Chodra
The park is inhabited by many animal strips of mixed forests of the European part of Russia. This is due to the ecological and trophic diversity of habitat conditions, as well as to geographic location park at the junction of natural zones. Animal world the republic is well studied (Pershakov, 1927; Formozov, 1935; Efremov, 1957, 1977; Rusov, 1977; Baldaev, 1977; Ivanov, 1983, etc.). However, a systematic study of the fauna of the national park has not yet been carried out. But if we exclude the species inhabiting ecotopes not typical for the park (the forest-steppe part of the republic, the Volga valley, the Cheboksary reservoir), then it should be assumed that about 50 species of mammals, about 100 - birds and 29 species of fish live in its lands.
Among mammals, the most numerous is the order of rodents. In the forests of the park, from the family of squirrels, there are squirrels and chipmunks - a recent eastern alien; from the mouse family - wood mouse, bank vole, yellow-throated mouse, etc. From the order of hares, the hare is not uncommon, and along the borders with fields, the hare is rarely found.
The order of predators is represented by the weasel family: weasel, ermine, polecat, pine marten, European and, possibly, American (released in the MASSR in 1948), minks are all relatively few in number. The otter, noted by Yushut, is especially rare. It is interesting that mink sometimes hunts birds, in particular hazel grouse, by voice. Of the felines, the lynx appears to come in. Elk are common in the forests. Another representative of the artiodactyl order, the wild boar, is less common.
Specially protected species include the otter and beaver, which were brought from the Voronezh nature reserve and released into the republic's lands in 1947. It is interesting that beavers were previously found on the Irovka, a tributary of the Ileta, but were exterminated.
In the lands of Mari-Chodra, especially in the Ileta floodplain, in overmature forests, many bats live in hollows.
The most common birds of the passerine order, whose life is associated with forests: jay, magpie, oriole, crossbills, pika, nuthatch, titmouse, etc. This should also include birds from the order of woodpeckers: great and small variegated woodpeckers, woodpeckers. In mixed forests with a varied and dense undergrowth, representatives of the thrush family are common: the fieldbird, the mistletoe, and the blackbird.
Among the forest birds leading nocturnal and twilight life, although less common, should be named the long-eared owl, the hawk owl, the fur-legged owl and the largest of the owl family - the owl. The common nightjar is common.
Of the grouse birds, taiga species live in the park: wood grouse (unfortunately, sharply reduced its numbers) and hazel grouse. A resident of the forest-steppe and deciduous forests - the black grouse - keeps on cutting down and young stands.
Of the family of snipe, the woodcock is common, less common due to the limited meadow-marsh spaces of the snipe and great snipe.
The family of pigeons is represented by wood pigeon, klintukh and turtledove. The first two live in old oak forests on Maple Mountain and feed on acorns.
Of the daytime birds of prey, the most common are the buzzard, the goshawk, and the black kite. No nesting eagles found. But flights of the golden eagle - the largest eagle - are possible. Another rare feathered predator - the osprey - was recorded along the river. Ilet, a little south of the park.
Until recently, gray herons lived in the park: two pairs of herons nested on huge pines on the banks of the Ileta. Currently they are not.
Of waterfowl nesting birds in floodplain lakes and swampy channels, the mallard duck and the teal-whistle are common; they are less common on reservoirs of failed origin. It is possible that the gogol, a typical forest duck, makes nests in hollows.
Seasonal concentrations of birds are small. In autumn, diving ducks stop temporarily on the lakes, and in spring the passage over the flooded rivers is more lively. In autumn and winter, bullfinches, waxwings, sometimes nutcrackers, etc. migrate.
