Tasbaqa: Central Asian Tortoise on the Ustyurt PlateauCEFR B1
31 Aug 2025
Adapted from Vlast.kz, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by GWANGJIN GO, Unsplash
The Ustyurt Plateau, a large clay desert across Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and western Kazakhstan, is the natural home of the Central Asian tortoise, known in Kazakh as Tasbaqa. Today human activity is the main threat: tortoises are traded, sometimes killed unintentionally, and can become trapped in cattle trenches.
British director Saxon Bosworth first encountered the plateau in 2020 on the Karakalpak side while documenting artemia brine shrimp. He was struck by the 21–23 million-year-old rock layers and, after long talks with local researchers, chose to tell the story of the wild Central Asian tortoise in a short film called TASBAQA.
The film follows what Bosworth calls a day in a tortoise’s life, a day that represents the two-to-three month active window. The animals emerge in late March to mate and feed and return in May to long hibernation; Tasbaqa can sleep for up to 10 months. The documentary played in July at the Royal Geographical Society in London and uses a traditional Kazakh dombra soundtrack. The filmmakers and conservation groups hope the film will raise awareness and draw support for the Tasbaqa Fund.
Difficult words
- documentary — A film that documents real life.
- tortoise — A slow-moving reptile with a shell.tortoise population
- ecosystem — A community of living things and their environment.
- conservation — The protection of the environment and wildlife.conservation efforts
- awareness — Knowing about something important.
- habitat — The natural home of a plant or animal.
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How can documentaries impact awareness of environmental issues?
- What role do you think music plays in storytelling?
- Why is it important to protect wildlife like the tortoise?
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