Orenburg Nature Reserve, Nature reserve in Orenburg Oblast, Russia

Orenburg Nature Reserve is a protected area in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, divided into five separate sections spread across different districts and covering more than 38,000 hectares in total. Each section represents a different type of steppe landscape, ranging from open grassland to areas with low shrubs and scattered rock formations.

The reserve was established in 1989 after scientific surveys in the 1970s documented untouched steppe areas in the southeastern part of the region. Its designation followed the recognition that these sections could serve as reference points for original steppe ecosystems.

The reserve protects Sarmatian burial mounds from the 7th–3rd centuries BCE. In the Burtinskaya Steppe a cluster of thirteen kurgans stands out, the largest 40 metres across and 2.5 metres high; the Aytuarskaya Steppe holds sixteen more, and a 20-metre kurgan of a medieval nomadic tribe lies by Lake Zhurmankol.

The reserve is mostly closed to the general public; visits are arranged in advance with the administration for scientific or environmental-education purposes. There are no public trails, and the five sections lie in different districts across the region, so access must be agreed with staff rather than attempted independently.

The Przewalski horse reintroduction centre opened in the Preduralskaya Steppe sector in May 2016, not 2015; the first foals were born in 2018, and by 2024 the herd numbered about 100 animals.