One of the largest tributaries of the Don is the Khoper River, stretching for 1000 km through the Penza, Saratov, Voronezh and Volgograd regions. The source is located near the village of Kuchki, Penza region, where 12 pure springs are connected into one stream.
Legend says that an old man named Khoper lived in those places, who discovered 12 springs and connected them with a shovel, and then built a mill and ground grain into flour for the inhabitants of the surrounding villages. The river was named Khopr, and a monument was erected to old Khopr at the source.
The Khoper River is meandering and unstable, the map shows that the flow repeatedly changes speed and direction. Narrow sections with a strong fast current give way to calm quiet backwaters that can end in a whirlpool. Initially, the Khoper River flows in a southwestern direction, then turns to the southeast and, at the very confluence with the Don, again makes a turn. There are many lakes and oxbow lakes, islets in the Khopra basin, the left bank is gentle, and the right one is quite steep and ravine, overgrown with shrubs and forest.
Khoper is a river,photo which will not leave anyone indifferent. The floodplain valley is unusually picturesque, especially during the spring flood.
The Khoper River has many tributaries, the largest of which are the rivers Arkadachka, Karai, Vorona, Tamala, Serdoba, Savala, Karachan, Olshanka. The flora and fauna of the river valley is represented in the Arkadaksky, Almazovsky and Khopersky reserves.
Khopyorsky reserve occupies a significant area in the middle reaches of the river - about 50 km. The fauna is represented by river beavers, squirrels, bison, rare species of bats, wild ducks, foxes, martens, deer and other animals. There are a lot of fish in Khoper - pike, bream, perch, roach, crucian carp, carp, catfish, pike perch, ide. The muskrat lives here - an animal listed in the Red Book as a relict species.
The flora is represented by shrubs, woody and herbaceous species. The floodplain forests of Khopra include oaks, maples, poplars, lindens, ash-trees, elms, and aspens. The undergrowth is formed from hazel, buckthorn, bird cherry, wild rose, viburnum, blackthorn and wild apple trees. Among the herbaceous, there are common goutweed, lungwort, goose onion, sedge, and blackberry. On the right bank, near the confluence of the Vorona and Khopra, the oldest and vast Tellerman forest spreads.
The Khoper River some time ago was considered one of the most beautiful and cleanest rivers in Europe, now the ecological situation has deteriorated significantly due to the destructiveactivities of the population. The main reasons are the discharge of industrial waste into the river, soil erosion, deforestation of floodplain forests, siltation of springs, leading to the gradual swamping of Khopra.
To stop the negative processes of river pollution, it is necessary to carry out a comprehensive cleaning of the channel, suspend the destruction of trees, protect the banks with a sanitary zone - in a word, restore the natural balance of nature. An important measure will be to work with the population to explain the need to protect the unique nature of Khopra.
