Zhuvintas Reserve was founded in 1946 in the southern part of Lithuania, namely in Alytus district. It completely covers the lake Zhuvintas, for this reason he got this name. The reserve area is 5420 hectares, of which 1032 hectares belongs to the lake Zhuvintas, 1211 hectares refers to forests, marshes occupy 2,881 hectares and 68 hectares owned by meadows. It is known that on this lake, and previously worked as a reserve regime, which began in 1937. By 1976 Reserve Zhuvintas became a branch of the Zoological Museum in Kaunas.

The lake itself has Zhuvintas unusual floating islands, but the biggest part of the area around it is covered with marshes, presented as horse and lowland types. Another major water body is a river dovin Reserve, which is located in the basin Shushupe.

The relief of the reserve mainly consists of plains, with free-standing and low hills. The climate is mild: the average temperature in July month is 16, 5 ° C, while the average January temperature -5 ° C. The average annual rainfall reaches from 600 to 800 mm.

The reserve Zhuvintas officially recorded 473 species of plants, including mosses and algae are 105 species. In the northern area of ​​the forest reserve is located buckten, which is a swampy spruce forest with an admixture of hornbeam, aspen and birch. In this area perfectly grow reeds, marsh vegetation, and it's all thanks to the prosperity of zooplankton zoobenthos: clams, tubeworms, dragonfly larvae and mosquitoes, isopod crustaceans, which are a rich food base for a huge number of fish. If we take into account the numerous fish, it is worth mentioning such as tench, pike, roach, rudd, bream, bleak, perch, bream and three-spined stickleback.

The reserve recorded about 217 species of birds, including nesting birds and waterfowl: mallards, colony mute swan, teal, whistler, teal-Treskunov, Tufted Duck and Pochard. A special pride of the reserve is the mute swan. Already in 1937, this place was first settled a pair of swans, and then began a natural natural reacclimatization these birds in Lithuania.

Mammal of the reserve Zhuvintas represented by 29 species, such as deer, wild boar normal, hare, squirrel vulgaris, moose, fox, raccoon dog, polecat, otter, weasel and others. Regular hunting of the neighboring lands limits the number of wolves in the reserve. Alone wolves appear in the reserve in the winter, but the high damage local fauna they bring.
In 1947, the reserve had been brought 8 Beaver, who had previously lived in the Voronezh Reserve. The beavers were released on the lake Zhuvintas. After a while, most of the beavers left in the lake due to strong zatorfovannost and marshy lake shores and settled on the rivers and dovin Bambyana. During 1950-1951 years on these rivers were beaver lodges and burrows. Later, the beavers have left these places. By 1952, on the lake was only one Beaver, who lived to 14 years. In 1974, again in this place there were beavers. They based their refuge in the river deltas and Kyaulichya Bambyana and the eastern shores of the lake. By 1985, the reserve was recorded around 20 lodges.

On the river dovin in 1969 it was found muskrat lodges. These animals have settled here and began to expand their own habitat, which helped warm winter for several years. In 1982, in the Lake there are new inhabitants Zhuvintas Reserve - the American mink, the number of lodges which by 1985 reached 15.

The development of natural complexes of the reserve is determined not only natural but also man-made. Natural Reserve Zhuvintas ecosystem changes occur not only in overgrowing the entire lake and its zailevanii, peat accumulation, increasing the proportion of sovereign marshes but also in entering the ecosystem of chemicals and plowing surrounding land. These factors make lacustrine ecosystems are particularly dependent on external influences.