Hortobágy National Park
National park in Hungary From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hortobágy (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈhortobaːɟ]) is an 800 km2 national park in eastern Hungary, rich with folklore and cultural history. The park, a part of the Alföld (Great Plain), was designated as a national park in 1973 (the first in Hungary), and elected among the World Heritage Sites in 1999.[2] The Hortobágy is Hungary's largest protected area, and the largest semi-natural grassland in Europe.[3]
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Counties of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Heves, Hajdú-Bihar and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Hungary |
| Criteria | Cultural: iv, v |
| Reference | 474 |
| Inscription | 1999 (23rd Session) |
| Area | 74,820 ha |
| Buffer zone | 199,380 ha |
| Website | http://www.hnp.hu/en |
| Coordinates | 47°35′40″N 21°9′24″E |
| Official name | Hortobágy |
| Designated | 11 April 1979 |
| Reference no. | 189[1] |
 Location in Hungary | |
Until recently it was believed that this alkaline steppe was formed by the clear cutting of huge forests in the Middle Ages, followed by measures to control the course of the Tisza River, allegedly resulting in the soil's current structure and pH. However, Hortobágy is much older, with alkalinization estimated to have started ten thousand years ago, when the Tisza first found its way through the Great Hungarian Plain, cutting off many streams from their sources in the Northern Mountains. The formation was finished by grazing animals and wild horses during the Ice Age, followed by domesticated animals.[4] The site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999 because of its long cultural history (stretching back more than four millennia), its scenery, and its testimony to traditional methods of pastoralism.[5]
One of its most iconic sites is the Nine-holed Bridge. Traditional T-shaped sweep wells dot the landscape, as well as the occasional mirage of trees shimmering in the reflected heat of the puszta (steppe). Part of the national park is a dark sky preserve.[6]
Hortobágy has also had more negative connotations, as a site of forced labor under the communist regime.[7]
Hortobágy is a steppe, a grassy plain with Hungarian Grey cattle, racka, Italian Mediterranean buffalo, and Nonius horses tended by mounted herdsmen called Csikós. It provides habitat for various species including 342 species of birds. The red-footed falcon, stone curlew, great bustard, European roller, Saker falcon, Eastern imperial eagle, European bee-eater, the nominate subspecies of the Eurasian hoopoe, and Great egret, the White stork, Pied avocet, Pygmy cormorant, Black stork, White-tailed eagle, and western Greylag goose are all represented by breeding populations. The area is also an important stopover site for migratoty species of birds such as the common crane, dotterel, and lesser white-fronted geese.[8]
Hortobágy is also a place where a herd of around 25 Przewalski's horse are living, a breeding center for Taurus cattle, one of several attempts to re-create the extinct aurochs, and just outside the park is an animal hospital and a small zoo for rescued animals that can't be relased into the wild such as Eurasian wolfs, European jackals, Eurasian griffon vultures, and Great white pelicans.[9][10]
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