Ebita

Ebita is a 47-kilometre river rising in the southern spurs of the Ural Mountains and flowing north through Kargaly district, Aktobe region, before joining the Ural River; it is also known locally as Shoshka, or Chaushka in its upper course. Along its banks lies the Ebita nature sanctuary, an 83,770-hectare protected area of steppe, rocky canyon and riverine woodland within the Kazakh steppe ecoregion. Its best-known feature is the Volchiy, or Wolf, Waterfall, a small cascade set among the river's canyon walls and surrounded by birch stands and steppe flora that includes valerian, buttercups and wild gooseberry. The combination of open grassland, exposed rock outcrops and a river canyon makes Ebita unusual for Aktobe region, where flat steppe otherwise predominates, and the sanctuary exists to protect this mix of steppe and canyon habitat along the river's course.