Thursday, August 17 2017 11:20

ArmInfo. As of 09:00 local time experts of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia  together with the air forces of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia are carrying out reconnaissance of the terrain over the territory of the Khosrov Reserve.

 As the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia has informed ArmInfo, 42 rescuers and two local residents are carrying the service on the  site of the fire.

The area of the fire was about 200 to 250 hectares. Armenian forces  of the Ministry of Emergency Situations failed to extinguish the fire  by their own efforts and turned to their Russian counterparts for  help.  The Russian side sent an IL-76 special battalion to Armenia  for help. August 15, at 08.50 the plane EMERCOM of Russia "IL-76"  carried out its first flight into the fire zone. The night before it  was possible to extinguish the main fires in the reserve. Perimeter  of the fire was 16 km.

The Khosrov Reserve is a nature conservation zone in Armenia in the  Ararat region in the southern part of the Geghama mountain range. It  was founded in 1958. Occupies an area of 29 000 hectares in the  basins of the Azat and Khosrov rivers at altitudes of 1 400-2 250 m  above sea level. The Khosrov Forest is located in the Ararat region  of Armenia, 61 km southeast of Yerevan. Most of the reserve covers  the zone of highland xerophytes - drought-resistant plants that can  withstand high temperatures. The area is distinguished by a special  variety and richness of flora and fauna. In the Khosrov Reserve there  are 1686 plant species, 146 of which are listed in the Red Books.  Among them are a wild pear, apple, plum, cherry, mountain ash,  hawthorn, almonds, Vavilov rye. Also here are protected forests of  juniper and oak, mountain xerophytes, mountain-steppe and wormwood  semi-desert formations. In the Khosrov Reserve there are rare species  of arachnids, crustaceans, insects, among which a large variety of  butterflies listed in the Red Book. And also 5 species of amphibians  and fish, 33 species of reptiles, 142 species of birds, 55 species of  mammals, in particular, Transcaucasian brown bear, wild boar,  broad-eared hedgehog, Armenian moufflon, bezoar goat, lynx, wolf,  fox, leopard, and others.