Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area is a nature reserve in Gobi desert, situated in the south-western part of Mongolia at the border with China. A similar reserve in the Gobi exists further to the west - the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area. Both reserves form one unit, the Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area (SPA), which encompasses a total of 53,000 km. Great Gobi A is one of the last refuges for critically endangered animals, like wild Bactrian camels and Gobi bears. Great Gobi A lies in the southwestern part of Mongolia in
Gobi Desert extending from the foot of the Pamirs (77° east) to the Greater Khingan Mountains, 116°-118° east, on the border of Manchuria; and from the foothills of the Altay, Sayan, and Yablonoi mountain ranges on the north to the Kunlun, Altyn-Tagh, and Qilian mountain ranges, which form the northern edges of the Tibetan Plateau, on the south. A relatively large area on the east side of the Greater Khingan range, between the upper waters of the Songhua (Sungari) and the upper waters of the Liao-ho, is reckoned to belong to the Gobi by conventional usage. Some geographers and ecologists prefer to