“Even if there were two or three individuals left, it was below the critical threshold. They could no longer recover on their own,” he recalls.

Since then, Askar set himself a goal: to return the gazelles to their native habitat. But it wasn’t a matter of a day — or even a year. It took nearly 30 years of seeking support, negotiating with authorities, overcoming bureaucracy, and searching for real opportunities to reintroduce this vanished species.

“I knew that one person couldn’t do it alone. It had to be a state-level effort.”

Yet for many years, Askar’s initiative went unanswered.

A breakthrough finally came in 2021, when Askar’s Argali Foundation received support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme, implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision. Through this project and international cooperation with Uzbek specialists, they managed to bring 15 gazelles from a breeding center. The rest were brought with NABU support. 

That was just the beginning. After the purchase came the difficult process of cross-border documentation, customs clearance, certifications, and logistics. Then came the adaptation of the animals, the creation of enclosures, forage bases, and protection from predators and poaching.

“Transporting them wasn’t the hardest part. The hardest part was people,” Askar admits.

Poaching played a significant role in the extinction of the species. Today, the main challenge is convincing local communities that gazelles are not game meat, but a national treasure and ecological asset.

Askar and his team work closely with local residents, explaining the environmental and economic benefits of the project: gazelles help restore degraded pastures, contribute to maintaining ecological balance, and could become a symbol of the region — boosting sustainable eco-tourism.

In May 2024, President Sadyr Japarov of the Kyrgyz Republic visited the Jeyren-Ordo Center, calling on all citizens to support the restoration of goitered gazelles and affirming the state’s commitment to protecting endangered species. Following his visit, local authorities became more responsive, and land allocation, coordination, and field support began moving forward more actively.

The restoration of gazelles is more than a story about one species. It contributes to the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and marks an important step toward sustainable natural resource management in the country.

Soon, the first release of gazelles into the wild is planned: 25 individuals equipped with GPS collars will be released in the Ton district, marking the culmination of decades of effort — and the beginning of a new chapter.

“I thought the hardest part would be transporting them and handling the paperwork. But it turns out, the hardest part is helping them survive in the wild — among people,” says Askar.

The future of the gazelles now lies in the hands of local communities. If they become the species’ protectors, gazelles will once again become part of the living landscape of Kyrgyzstan. And the country will stand as an example of how lost species can be brought back — with persistence, science, and collective will.