Table Of ContentEnvis Bulletin
Wildlife and Protected Areas
Vol. 1, no. 1, December 2002
Mountain Ungulates
Editors
S.Sathyakumar & Y.V.Bhatnagar
Maps
Panna Lal & G.M.Veerappan
Cover Photo Credits
a b
c d
a. S.Sathyakumar b. Y.V.Bhatnagar
c. G.S. Rawat d. A.J.T.Johnsingh
Citation (e.g.) : Green, M.J.B. (2002). Musk Deer : A Story of Himalayan
Survival. (IN) Sathyakumar, S. and Bhatnagar, Y.V. (Eds.) ENVIS Bulletin:
Wildlife and Protected Areas. Vol. 1 No. 1, 99-105
The contents of the bulletin may be freely used for non-commercial
purposes, with acknowledgement.
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The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has In order to increase global awareness
been contributing substantially in the of the importance of mountains, the
field of ‘high altitude ecology’ and in the United Nations had declared the year
conservation of mountain flora and 2002 as the ‘International Year of the
fauna through research and training Mountains’ (IYM) and to commemorate
activities since 1986. WII’s faculty and the IYM – 2002, we decided to bring out
researchers have carried out several this issue which covers different aspects
surveys for endangered species, of the ecology and conservation of 15
ecological studies on endangered mountain ungulate species that occur in
species/faunal groups and their the Himalayan and Trans-Himalayan
habitats, and has conducted training regions of India. The different aspects
programmes related to research, include the species accounts,
monitoring and management of these protected areas coverage, mountain
species and habitats in the Himalaya. ungulate conservation, conservation
During the last 16 years, significant issues, veterans’ section and a
efforts have been made for the bibliography. The Himalayan range
conservation of mountain ungulates of states have contributed information on
the Himalaya by researchers and the status of the mountain ungulates. I
managers from different institutions and hope this issue will be appreciated by
organisations in collecting ecological all users and we welcome your
information for planning better feedback on the same.
conservation strategies. Some of the
recent initiatives by WII in the field of Our next issue of ENVIS will be on
mountain ungulate research and “Conservation of Tropical Rain Forests
conservation include the ‘Collaborative of India”.
Ladakh Field Research Programme’
jointly carried out by WII, United States
Fish & Wildlife Service, International
Snow Leopard Trust; Snow Leopard S.Singsit
Conservancy and the ‘Institutional Co- Director, WII & Team Leader
operation Programme between WII and ENVIS Centre, Wildlife Institute of India
University of Tromsø, Norway, on
Pastoralism and Wildlife Conservation
in the Himalaya’.
i
Foreword
The Indian Subcontinent has the greatest Conservation of these mountain ungulates is
mountain systems of the world - the Himalaya, crucial as they form the prey base of the
which is well recognized for its rich and elusive snow leopard and other large
diverse biodiversity, and for its significance carnivores, and some of them are of
in providing the life support systems for international importance. Undoubtedly,
several million people in the northern region. protection to these mountain ungulates and
The Himalaya has many magnificent their habitats is of prime concern and also
mountain ungulates that are widely known for the need for efficient wildlife management
their diversity and splendour. The beautiful based on scientific information. During the
Hangul, the majestic Argali, the agile Ibex, last two decades, attempts have been made
the sure-footed Tahr, the bounding Musk to conserve and manage mountain ungulates
Deer, the mighty Yak, the elegant Kiang, and in the Indian subcontinent. Creation and
the elusive Serow are just some of the management of Protected Areas was one
mountain ungulates that occur in the significant step. Some scientific studies and
Himalaya. Mountain ungulates have always several status surveys and short studies have
been admired by explorers, adventurers, been carried out on mountain ungulates in
naturalists, hunters and the common man for the Indian subcontinent that have added
their beauty, sure-footedness, and their ability substantial knowledge to our understanding
to survive in steep and rugged terrain under of the species ecology and conservation
harsh climatic conditions. issues.
Mountain ungulates have remained least Proper dissemination of information is as
studied as their habitats are in the remote high important as the collection itself. This ENVIS
altitudes of the Himalaya where conditions issue on Mountain Ungulates of the Indian
are inhospitable. Despite these limitations, Subcontinent brought out by the Wildlife
some of the best natural history observations Institute of India is a good combination of
have been made on mountain ungulates by updated information on mountain ungulate
the early explorers, hunters and naturalists. species, their status and distribution in
Hunting was probably the only activity that different states of India, conservation and
could have had some effect on mountain management issues, natural history by
ungulate populations in the Indian veterans, and bibliography. This publication
subcontinent in the pre-independence period. will be of great value to biologists, wildlife
The rapid human and livestock population managers and others.
growth in the Himalaya in the last five decades
have led to habitat loss, habitat degradation,
poaching, trade, wildlife-human conflicts and
J.C.Daniel
consequently have seriously threatened
Honorary Secretary,
several mountain ungulate species and their
Bombay Natural History Society
habitats in the Indian subcontinent.
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Mountains are widely acknowledged as the ‘water the most formidable mountain complexes of the
towers’ of the world in addition to being rich world. Further north, the Altai and Tien Shan
repositories of, often, unique biodiversity. ranges lead into the heart of Cenral Asia. There
Recognizing these values of the mountains, the are a range of low mountains further that emerge
UN had declared the year 2002 as the from the western fringes in Pakistan, and align in
‘International Year of the Mountains’ to generate a NE-SW orientation towards the deserts of
awareness about the conservation and Baluchistan as the Salt and the Kirthar ranges.
sustainable development of the mountains. In the east, the mountains take a sharp
southward turn from Namche Barwa into the
The Himalaya are the most prominent mountains mountains of Myanmar and Bangladesh, moving
in India and the region covers ca. 12% of the further into south east Asia. The Himalaya, are
country’s 3.3 million km2 geographical area. The thus a part of the largest mountain complex of
present issue is dedicated to a fascinating, yet the world and bridges its major realms, the oriental
little known part of its fauna – the mountain in the east and south, the Palarctic along the north
ungulates inhabiting the cold, rugged mountains and the Ethiopian along the west.
of the higher Himalaya – the ridaks or the Mountain
Monarchs, as some mountain people call them. The vast spread of the Himalaya has a width
varying from 200km in parts to over 500km in
In this chapter, we give a brief overview of the others. This expanse has a great variation in
Himalayan region, its wildlife values and the topography as well as biodiversity along the south
reasons for choosing the present theme for the to north, and the east to west axis. Humidity in
Bulletin. general declines from east to west and from south
to north, along the Himalaya.
The Himalaya and Associated Mountains
The foothills, or the Siwalik mountains are uplifted
The Himalaya are the youngest of world’s glacial debris, at places extending to ca. 1,000m
mountain chains and have among the highest above mean sea level. Higher on are the ‘Middle
peaks in the world. These mountains form the Himalaya’ extending up to ca. 3,000m as
watershed for most of the rivers flowing in undulating hills, at places cut steeply by flowing
northern India, which sustain millions of humans torrents and rivers. Beyond the Middle Himalaya,
who inhabit the Indo-Gangetic plains. The high is the towering Greater Himalayan range
ranges of the Himalaya stop the northward flow consisting primarily of igneous formations with
of the monsoon clouds and thus responsible for patches of sedimentary rocks. Bulk of this area
the climate and prosperity of the people living in is covered with huge glaciers and peaks, with
the northern region of the Indian subcontinent. relatively arid, cold valleys in their fold. Across
this great barrier, is the vast arid expanse of the
The Himalaya trace an arc of over 2,500km, from Tibetan Marginal Mountains and the Tibetan
the Nanga Parbat in the west, to the Namche Plateau, often referred to as the Trans-Himalaya.
Barwa in the east in a roughly NW-SE orientation. The Trans Himalaya are categorized as the Zone
In Jammu & Kashmir, the mountains and valleys 1 (with two provinces) as per the
of the Pamirs and the Hindu Kush spread further biogeographically classification by Rodgers &
west, the Karakorum, east and the Kunlun Panwar (1988) and roughly covers 5.6% of the
mountains towards the NE, this forming one of country’s geographical area. The rest of the
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Himalaya are categorized as the Zone 2 (with four non-human primates) or on the PA network in
provinces) and covers roughly 6.4% of the the country. The issues on taxa usually provide
country. exhaustive articles from experts with either a
species or a regional focus. As alluded to earlier,
More interesting facts about the Himalaya such in this volume we have confined ourselves to the
as the orogeny of the Himalaya, ecological Himalayan region among all the mountain chains
zonation, and flora and fauna can be found in in the country due to its unique value as the
Schaller (1977) and Polunin & Stainton (1992), highest, significant ecological entity, grand and
apart from numerous other publications. fragile, yet harbouring some of the most pristine
habitats for wildlife left in the country. Within the
The Mountain Ungulates of the Himalaya and Himalaya, we have chosen accounts on those
Trans-Himalaya ungulate species that are either unique to the
Himalaya or are confined to the mountain ranges
The ungulate fauna of the Himalaya include alone.
species such as the chital, sambar, wild pig, Asian
elephant, species that are found in other parts of Layout of the Issue
the country too. There are however various
cervids, moschids, bovids and equuids unique to The issue is divided into five Sections in order to
the Himalaya or limited to the high mountain cover various facets of mountain ungulates and
chains of Central Asia. Most of these species their conservation. Section One gives species
evolved to inhabit the niches produced by accounts of the fifteen species/subspecies
spectacular mountain building during the present in the country. The two chapters in this
Cretaceous and Tertiary that created new, usually section give brief accounts of the species in the
cold and bleak landscapes, and are well adapted Himalayan and the Trans-Himalayan regions in a
to these harsh environments. This little known ‘field guide’ format. This, we believe, should be
fauna comprising of 15 species/subspecies have useful for the lay user as well as the serious
been selected for the present ENVIS Bulletin reader to easily acquaint with the species, its
(Table 1). The taxonomy of this group of animals distribution, status, habitat, behavioural traits,
is greatly debated and we have mostly limited morphology and key biological facts. We have
our listing to classification by Schaller (1977), tried to give clear photographs of all species, but
Schaller (1998) or Shackleton (1997). We have where not available, we have given sketches.
not included the Wild Goat (Capra aegagrus) and
the Shou or Sikkim stag (Cervus elaphus wallichi), There is a wealth of information available with
since its occurrence in the country are not the State Forest/Wildlife Departments on animal
confirmed. distribution and status, their vision for wildlife
conservation, and management actions being
It is noteworthy that this assemblage of species/ taken. Often, these efforts are little known and
subspecies constitutes ca. 50% of India’s appreciated. The Section Two on ‘ Protected Area
ungulate fauna. Many of these species are wild Network and State Reports on Status and
relatives of sheep, goat, horse/donkey and yak, Management of Mountain Ungulates’ is meant to
thus adding value to this assemblage as an bridge this gap to some extent. The Himalaya are
important genetic pool. spread over six Indian states. We were able to
receive articles from five of them which are
The ungulates of the high mountains are prey to presented in this section.
charismatic predators such as the snow leopard,
Tibetan wolf and common leopard. An The fragile Himalayan region is faced with
understanding of their ecology can thus help in numerous conservation issues. Some of them
better management of the entire region. such as livestock grazing in Protected Areas and
human-wildlife conflicts are common with the rest
Most of WII’s ENVIS Bulletins so far have been of the country, but there are unique socio-
taxa based (elephants, small cats, crocodilians, economic peculiarities that make dealing with
iv
them more challenging. These issues and conditions to conduct over 30 critical studies and
possible solutions for them are detailed for the 20 surveys documenting the varied facets of the
Himalayan and the Trans-Himalayan regions in region’s biodiversity and conservation issues.
Section Three of this Bulletin. Through this Bulletin we wish to add an important
and useful compilation on the conservation of the
The Himalaya have fascinated naturalists since magnificent mountains crowning the country.
time immemorial. A few decades ago however
some scientists and naturalists have painstakingly References
documented the region’s wildlife, often under very
harsh conditions and with few facilities. We have
Polunin, O. and Stainton, A. 1997. Flowers of the
tried to bring this perspective on what was their
Himalaya. Oxford University Press, Delhi.
driving force, their trials and tribulations in initiating
these studies, in Section Four – ‘Semi-Scientific
Accounts by Veterans on Research and Rodgers, W.A. and Panwar, H.S. 1988. Planning
Conservation Experiences on Mountain a Protected Area Network in India. Vol. 1. A report.
Ungulates’. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. 341pp.
Although there have been few quantitative studies
Schaller, G.B. 1977. Mountain Monarchs: Wild
and assessments on the mountain ungulates in
Sheep and Goats of the Himalaya. Chicago,
the Himalaya, there is a wealth of information as
Chicago University Press. 425pp.
anecdotal accounts that reveal a lot about the
species. We have developed and included an
exhaustive bibliography on the useful references Schaller, G.B. 1998 Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe.
for mountain ungulates and about conservation University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
of the region in general as the last section of this
volume.
Shackleton, D.M. (ed.) and the IUCN/SSC
Caprinae Specialist Group. 1997. Wild Sheep &
The Wildlife Institute of India has pioneered
Goats & their Relatives. Status Survey and
research on wildlife in the Himalayan region since
its inception, the very first research project being Conservation Action Plan for Caprinae. IUCN,
an extensive survey on the snow leopard and its Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. 390pp
prey species in the Western Himalaya. Through
the twenty years of its existence, WII researchers
and scientists have worked hard under daunting
v
Table 1: Mountain ungulate species covered in this volume along with information
on theprimary region where they occur.
S. No Species Scientific name Primary region
Order - Artiodactyla
Family – Bovidae
Subfamily – Caprinae
Tribe - Rupicaprini
1 Grey Goral Nemorhaedus goral goral H
(also Red Goral) (Nemorhaedus baileyi)
2 Mainland Serow Nemorhaedus sumatraensis H
Tribe - Ovibovini
3 Mishmi Takin Budorcas taxicolor taxicolor H
Tribe - Caprini
4 Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus H
5 Himalayan Ibex Capra sibirica TH
6 Flare horned (Kashmir) Capra falconeri falconeri TH/H
Markhor
7 Blue sheep or Bharal Pseudois nayaur TH/H
8 Ladakh Urial Ovis vignei vignei TH
9 Tibetan Argali Ovis ammon hodgsoni TH
Tribe - Saigini
10 Chiru/Tibetan antelope Pantholops hodgsoni TH
Tribe - Bovini
11 Wild Yak Bos grunniens TH
Subfamily - Antilopinae
Tribe - Antilopini
12 Tibetan Gazelle Procapra picticaudata TH
Family - Mochidae
13 Himalayan Musk Deer Moschus chrysogaster H
Family - Cervidae
14 Hangul or Kashmir Stag Cervus elephas hanglu H
(also Shou or Sikkim Stag) (C. e. wallichi)
Order - Perissodactyla
Family - Equuidae
15 Tibetan wild ass Equus kiang TH
Himalaya (H) or Trans Himalaya (TH))
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