The reserve was founded in 1958 on the base of Kapan forestry.

   For dozens of years the area hadn’t the status of state reserve. In 1963-1975 it was renamed the reserve of Bartaz after the name of the mountain Bartaz situated in the area of Meghry mountain-chain reserve. Only after 40 years in January 1998 it had the status of state reserve as an independent institute of RA Ministry of Environmental Protection.
The reserve lies on the southern part of the Khustup mountain-mass and the northern slope of the mountain-chain of Meghry at 700-2400 m above the sea level. The rivers Tsav and Shikahogh flow across the area with their mountain-tributaries.
The reserve is famous for its warm and moist mixed flora that is caused by several factors mainly under the influence of the geographical position of the area and climate peculiarities. From 3 parts the reserve is surrounded by mountains, which bar the cool northern and warm southern air-currents out the Tsav and Shikahogh reservoirs. From the fourth side the place is open for warm and damp air blowing from the Caspian Sea. That is why the reserve is rich with Caucasian type of moist-loving plants and is famous for heat-and moist-loving types of bushes and grass-plants, which feature the peculiar and unique flora of the reserve.

    Here the flora is not specially studied, it approximately includes 1100 types of vascular plants. 70 types growing in the reserve are registered in the Armenian and 18 types in the Russian Red Books.

   The reserve is also famous for its endemics, most part of which are called by Zangezour place name like Zangezour pear-tree, Zangezour bluebell, Zangezour pennycress, etc.

    In lower parts at 1000 m above the sea level copses of Araksian short oak-trees are spread. An interesting type of Mediterranean Sea flora called shibliak grows here.

    Shibliak is a Serbian word naming dense bushes, which thanks to Yugoslavian botanist L. Adamovich was met in scientific-botanical literature in 1911.

   This type of plant spreads in rather sloping, dry, stony parts of the reserve. Here mostly thorny plant (tsaqi or jhantapush) typical for shibliak is met. This bush has branchy, prickly, yellow-red leaves and round, webbed and long-stalk fruit, which is often used as a natural fence. Other plants growing nearby are the tree-of-paradise, hackberry, barberry and other dry-resistant bushes and shibliak typical herbage where mostly “bearded-plant” (mirusabuys) grows.

   The forest, which makes the main part of the reserve spreads at 1000-2200 m above the sea level. Georgian oak and eastern and ordinary hornbeam types grow here. The accompanying types are ash, lime, maple, elm and other types of trees. In the reserve one can meet the only grove of eastern beech in the South Armenia. There wild writes of fruit-trees like Greek walnut, pear, eastern apple and plum trees in the forests, and also worm and moist mixed types of bushes like pistachio-tree, chestnut, Caucasian persimmon, pomegranate, fig-tree, ordinary biwa. In brighter forest-meadows lots of beautiful bushes among them bright yellow, papilionaceous and Trans-Caucasian genista are noteworthy.

    In the reserve one can meet the eastern plane-tree growing separately or by cluster. The reserve is the only place in Armenia, where the upper part the grove-forests of hornbeam are preserved.

   Above the forest zone at 2200 m above the sea level spreads high mountainous subalpine flora. Here sainfoin and conifer with branchy thorny pillows are widely spread. When blooming they are covered this yellow, violet and pink flowers.
The fauna in the reserve is not studied well. It is known that different varieties of reptiles (Trans-Caucasian giurza, water and ordinary grass-snake, Armenian viper, etc.), birds (Caspian turkey, bearded eagle, South-European berkut, white-head griffon, etc), mammals (wolf, fox, Caucasian lynx, chamois, grey hare, badger, big-ear hedgehog, etc.)

    live in the reserve. You can also meet wild sheep (muflon) and bezoarian goat. As a local people say Asian leopard lived in the reserve. The great part of the animals mentioned are registered in the Armenian Red book.

    A phenomenal monument called Mtnadzor (Dark Canyon), which occupies about half part of the reserve area, characterizes the exceptionality of Shikahogh reserve. Thanks to the well preserved forest in Mtnadzor the reserve can be ranked among the monuments of the nature’s world heritage.