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Wildlife in Ladakh |
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Ladakh is a unique wildlife destination, with many rare and exotic animals and birds seen in this high Himalayan plateau. The alpine climate, and rugged mountains are home to many different species of flora and fauna, which you can see on tours to Ladakh.
The wild yak is to be found only here. Other animals include the ibex, blue sheep, bharal, docile marmot and mouse hare. Black necked crane, bar-headed geese, ducks and several other water birds breed near the lakes in thousands. The avid bird watcher can spend friutful hours by observing Bactrian magpies, grey tits, chough, raven, sparrow, kite, kestrel, Turkoman rock pigeon, chukor, finches, buntings, larks, desert wheateaters, a many more varieties of birds.
The snow leopard is Ladakh's most rare animal. Another one that is unique is the kyang or the wild horse, while at lower altitudes the musk deer too is a rare sight, precious by virtue of its expensive musk. Visitors are likely to spot many marmots, mouse hares, stone martens, red foxes, wolves, ibex, bharal and shapu during the course of their journey but the habitat of the nyan (big horned sheep), chim (Tibetan antelope famed for its fleece-Shahtoosh), goa (Tibetan gazelle), lynx, pallas cat, kyamg (wild horse) and brong dong (wild yak) are still outside the tourists' domain.
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YAK |
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Yak, wild ox, is the largest animal of the Ladakh region. It can be easily seen grazing in the Himalayan valley at heights of over 6,000 meters. An herbivore, it has long black hair tinged with gray at the muzzle. Also, wild yaks migrate to lower regions of the Himalayas in winters. It can easily be distinguished by its long black hair, which is tinged with gray at the muzzle. Spending its summers at a height above 6,000 meters, in winter it moves in herds to the lakes, marshes and lower valleys.
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The main predator found in the Himalayan region is the beautiful Snow Leopard. Another endangered species, it is hunted for its silver gray pelt. It preys on the wild sheep and goats of the Ladakh region.
Some other animals forming a part of the Ladakh wildlife are the Himalayan Brown Bear, the Himalayan Black Bear, the Himalayan Wolf, the King or Himalayan Wild Ass etc. |
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| IBEX |
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Ibex is one of the most beautiful goats found in this region. It is known for its huge horns curving backwards in a spiral that can be long as 147 cm. These goats usually move in herds of 10-16. Inhabiting the steppes of this Tibetan plateau are too small creatures not generally associated with high altitudes, the Tibetan gazelle (Procapra picticaudata) and the chiru (Pantholops hodgsoni). The former, sighted very rarely on the eastern fringe of Ladakh, sport horns measuring 36 cm. and are generally seen in herds of 5-10.
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The later also called Tibetan antelopes, are strange little animals with beautiful horns measuring up to 69 cm. Chiru inhabit the Aksai Chin and Tibetan plateau, usually above 5,000 meters. Also found in western Ladakh are the much persecuted musk deer and kiangs- the handsome , sleek, rust and white colored wild asses, whose estimated population is around 1,500. |
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| NYAN |
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Nyan is the largest wild sheep found in this region and is also known by the name of Big-Horned sheep or the Great Tibetan sheep. Nyan can be easily seen on the heights above 4,500 m in northeastern Ladakh.All the world's sheep are closely related and zoologists generally believe that each kind is only a variation of the same species. The largest and most magnificent of wild sheep is the nyan also called the Great Tibetan sheep (Ovis ammon). Roughly 200 of these antelope - like animals are found in the extreme eastern portion of Ladakh. The horns of the nyan measure up to 145 cm. and the animal normally remains at a great height, rarely descending to a level below 4,500 meters.
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| URIAL |
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The urial or shapu, (Ovis orientalis), which weighs 85 Kg. and has horns measuring upto 99 cm., is the smallest of the world sheep in eastern Asia, its body just about as tall as its horns. These sheep prefer the grassy mountain slopes, usually at a height of 3,000-4,000 meters. The meeting of this species, as is the case with most sheep during December-January and they give birth to their young around May. The need for protection of the urial is great as they are with in easy reach of hunters. |
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Their numbers have been declining rapidly and it is estimated that there are no more than 500 in Ladakh, while a survey by the Wildlife Department of Jammu & Kashmir puts another population in the Markha and Rumbak valleys at only around 34-50.The most common and wide spread of the sheep in the Ladakh region is the bharal or the blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur). Found at an altitude of almost 6,000 meters, in summer they graze in huge herds on the rich and abundant grasses of the alpine meadows. Their brownish-gray coloring provides them with protective camouflage and as they often stand motionless they can be extremely difficult to spot but, when alarmed, bharal will bolt swiftly to safety. Strangely, bharal seem to bear some morphological traits of both sheep and goats.
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| AVIFAUNA |
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The Himalayan and Tibetan snowcocks-large majestic birds much hunted for their meat, and partridges breed at a height about 5,000 meters. The rest are visitors, moving down to the foothills in autumn in an annual ritual of altitudinal migration. Other birds move still further, horizontally following ancient routes of global migration.The highest realm belongs to the birds of prey and carrion eaters. These include choughs, griffon vultures, ravens and lammergeiers(bearded vultures), which follow man and animal wherever they roam.
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Choughs and ravens have been seen as high as 6,150 meters along with the lammergeiers, which have a spectacular three meters wingspan, which enables them to glide on high powerful upcurrents. Lammergeiers are never found far from mountains and locals awed by their size falsely believe them to be capable of carrying away young lambs. |
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