20 Amazing Himalayan Wildlife Found in Leh Ladakh

Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir is also known as land of high passes and the highest inhabited plateaus in India. The high slopes of Ladakh has a great diversity of animal and birds, breed at high altitude wetlands and mountains. Flora and fauna of Leh Ladakh has a great diversity, 225 species of birds and big land animals such as wild Yak,Ibex,Tibetan wild ass and the Predators found in Ladakh region are Snow leopard, Brown bear, Wolf and Lynx.

The most rare birds found in Ladakh along with wild animals are Bar headed goose,Yellow wagtail,Snow partridge, Alpine musk deer,Ladak pika,Himalaya Stoat and list of Tibetan animals such as Tibetan urial sheep,Tibetan Argali,Tibetan antelope,Tibetan gazelle,Tibetan sand fox,Tibetan Wild Ass and Tibetan Snowcock.

Snow Leopard: 

Snow Leopard is the apex predator of rocky alpine regions of Ladakh and perfectly adapted the cold climate, barren landscape of high altitude. The mountainous regions of Ladakh offers special package for snow leopard sighting trek during winter.

Bacterian Camel"

Bacterian Camels are only found in high altitude of Nubra valley and regions of Ladakh. The camels are very unique with double humped on their backs and very small population of wild bactrian camel exists in Ladakh.

Wild Yak:

Wild Yak is the largest Bovidae of the region, found throughout the Himalaya region of India. The long haired endangered yak used to occurred in a wider area of Ladakh in the past.

Marmot:

Himalayan Marmot is big Marmot only found in grasslands and mountain passes of the Himalayas. The Marmot is a large land squirrel and medium size rodents, Mostly visible in the mountainous regions of Ladakh.

Brown Bear:

Brown Bear is a very rare wild animal in Ladakh, mostly found in four major areas of Suru, Zanskar, Drass and Kargil in the region. Himalayan brown bears have become critically endangered and is the largest mammal in the region.

Lynx

Lynx big cat only found in the mountainous and Himalayan regions of Ladakh, along with Pallas cat. Hemis National Park is very famous for smaller wild animals.

Red Fox

Red Fox is a beautiful animal mostly seen in Ladakh region of India. The red fox along with Tibetan sand fox are among the few smaller animals you can sometimes see from the road.

Ladakh Urial: Ladakh Urial is a rare wild goat found at lower elevation of Himalaya and found only in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir State. Urial wild sheep is one of the highly endangered animal of India.

Himalayan Musk Deer

White bellied musk deer or Himalayan Musk Deer is subspecies of Alpine musk deer, found in the northern parts of Himalayas. Himalayan Musk Deer species is endangered due to the illegal wildlife trade in India.

Himalayan Blue Sheep

Bharal is also called as Himalayan Blue Sheep, found in the high Himalayas of India and a major food source of the snow leopards. Himalayan Blue Sheep also found in the Tibetan Plateau and Trans-Himalayan regions of India.

Himalayan Tahr

Himalayan Tahr is a wild ungulate, native to northern India and close relatives to wild sheep and goats. The Himalayan tahr is adapted to cool mountains with rocky terrain and share natural habitat with bharal, argali and goral.

Himalayan Wolf

Himalayan Wolf is a critically endangered species of canid, found in the Indian region of Ladakh and Spiti. The Himalayan wolves captured from the wild and bred in captivity at the Darjeeling Zoo in Shiwalik Hills.

Himalayan Ibex

Himalayan Ibex is a wild goat and the subspecies of the Siberian Ibex, found in Himalayan region of India. The Himalayan lbex mostly found in the rocky mountain of Karakoram, Hindukush and Himalayas.

Himalayan Viper

Himalayan Pit Viper is venomous pitviper with no subspecies, found along the southern slopes of the Himalayas in India. This highland snake species is nocturnal and found in high altitudes of western Himalayas.

Himalayan Griffon

Himalayan Griffon Vulture (Gyps himalayensis) is a true raptor and one of the two largest species of old world vulture, found along the Himalayas in India. The griffon vulture is the largest and heaviest bird found in the Himalayas.

Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle is one of the magnificent birds of prey and fifth largest amongst extant eagle species. The raptor is one of the most highly regarded birds used in falconry and known to hunt and kill large prey such as mountain sheep,goats and wolves.

Bearded Vulture

Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is one of the largest and rarest raptor, distributed in Himalayan region of India. The bearded vulture also known as lammergeier lives and breeds on high altitude mountains of Ladakh and the only bird of prey that feeds exclusively on bone.

Black Necked Crane

The endangered black necked crane is the state bird of Jammu and Kashmir and breeds on the remote plateau and cold parts of Ladakh. Black Necked Crane is a medium sized crane bird species with black head and neck, this species come to India every year for breeding in Ladakh.

Eurasian Eagle Owl

Eurasian Eagle Owl is one of the species of largest horned owl, found in hilly and rocky scrub forests of Ladakh region of India. The Eurasian eagle owl is one of the rare species of bird found in Leh Ladakh along with Indian eagle owl,Short eared owl and Pallid scops owl.

Bar Headed Goose

Bar Headed Goose is one of the highest flying birds in the world,habitat in high altitude lakes and wetlands of Tso Moriri in Ladakh. The bar headed goose migrates over the great Himalayas to spend the winter season in India, from Assam,Rajasthan,Karnataka to Tamil Nadu.

Tibetan Wild Animals Found in Ladakh

Tibetan Plateau is known for wide range of wildlife and home to a vast array of amazing wild animals and birds. Ladakh region of India has an amazing variety of Tibetan wildlife living in a wide range of habitats such as Tibetan Antelope,Tibetan Wild Ass,Tibetan Wolf,Tibetan Urial Sheep,Tibetan Argali,Tibetan Gazelle,Tibetan Sand Fox,Tibetan Yak and Tibetan Snowcock.

Credit: http://www.walkthroughindia.com/wildlife/20-amazing-himalayan-wildlife-found-leh-ladakh