Ganga Lake Nature Reserve in Sukhbaatar

Ganga Lake is situated in Dariganga soum of Sukhbaatar province, 11km to the southeast of Dariganga town, next to Moltsog Els. It is a fresh water lake surrounded by sand dunes and it has its own micro ecosystem. Ganga Lake alongside Moltsog Els and other lakes around the sand dunes became state protected in 1993 in order to preserve the wild life. Migratory birds, especially swans come to Ganga Lake in huge numbers every year. Swans and Ganga Lake is almost synonymous to locals as the bird is the symbol of the lake. Mongolians call it The Thousand Swans’ Gathering. Beside swans, the white-naped crane is also hosted by Ganga Lake. The lake is fed by 21 springs and the most important one is Dagshin Orgikh Spring. Dagshin Orgikh Spring is located 50m to the northeast of Ganga Lake and it has extremely cold pellucid water. Unfortunately, the lake has been shrinking for past few years due to climate change, desertification and mining.