Khekhtsir Preserve

(more correctly, Bol she-Khekhtsir Preserve). A preserve located in the southwestern part of the Khekhtsir Range, south of the city of Khabarovsk, at the point where the Ussuri River flows into the Amur. The preserve has an area of 44,700 hectares (1977). It was created in 1964 to protect the natural communities of the conifer-broad-leaved forests of the Far East.

The vegetation includes examples of South Ussuri, Manchurian, Okhotsk, and East Siberian floras. The common tree species are the Korean pine, Yeddo spruce, Khingan fir (Abies nephrolepis), dahurian larch, Mongolian oak, Manchurian ash, Manchurian walnut, Amur linden, Amur cork tree (Phello-dendron amurense), Japanese elm, and yellow, or ribbed, birch. Among the shrubs are Euonymus pauciflora, Eleutherococcus senticosus, and the Japanese angelica. Common lianas are the grape and actinidia.

The preserve is inhabited by the Manchurian red deer, roe deer, musk deer, wild boar, sable, Siberian weasel, yellow-throated marten, otter, fox, raccoon dog, lynx, Himalayan black bear, Eurasian brown bear, badger, squirrel, blue hare, the Manchurian hare (Caprolagus brachyurus), hazel hen, black grouse, pheasant, mandarin duck, Elaphe schrenki, agkistrodons, and the Chinese soft-shelled turtle.