Adventures in India

The seemingly barren expanse of the cold and hostile Ladakh is the unlikely home of a wide variety of life forms, invisible to the casual observer. Surmounting all odds, ever evolving into a better adapted existence is the endless cycle of new births and deaths leading to a hardy and flourishing variety of creatures.

Ladakh, the mysterious land of myth and legend is forbidding to all life forms and only the hardiest can survive here. Snow capped peaks, several thousand feet above one of the most elevated plateaus on earth reign majestically over a barren, treeless wind-swept country.

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Scattered here and there, a few fertile patches provide sustenance to the creatures that have lived here for centuries. Rich starry skies stand witness to this continual evolution towards a hardier existence as the newer challenges of civilization pose unfamiliar threats to their continued existence.

The formation of these ranges from the collision of two landmasses have caused fauna from both Palearctic and Oriental origins to be found here, adapted and evolved to inhabit this peculiar region. The land itself falls more into the Palearctic than the Oriental region with no forest reserves, only sparse greenery and some surviving wild rose, willow and other hardy herbaceous plants on the higher slopes in the alpine zone, near the snowline.

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The wildlife , while seemingly visible to the untrained eye, is indeed there. These animals have adapted themselves to survive in the harsh conditions such as rocky terrain, bitter cold, poor shelter and minimal vegetation. They have their own ways of coping with the climate. Some, like the bears and marmots hibernate, while others like the yak or urial migrate to lower altitudes in the winter.

The springs are a time for new births and the short summers for getting into peak health to cope with the coming winters. Winters see depleting energies, and only the hardiest survive to reproduce and become a progressively hardier breed. Most herbivorous mammals that live in herds in the grassy areas of this region develop shaggy coats with abundant hair to help them cope with the extreme cold, and lack of available shelter, and have higher levels of red blood corpuscles than their counterparts in the lowlands for their bodies to function well at these altitudes.

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Most common mammals found here are the yak, Nyan (Great Tibetan Sheep), the endangered Urial (the smallest sheep species in Aisa), Ibex (beautiful, surefooted, large wild goats), Bharal (blue sheep), Kiang (wild ass), Himalayan or Long Tailed Marmot, Wolly Hare, Cape Hare, Mountain Weasel, Tibetan Argali, Stoliczka's Mountain Vole, Pika, Wolf, red fox, some bears, and of course the famously elusive Snow Leopard.

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Reptiles are few here, but it is possible to see a Himalayan Agama, a Theobalds Toad-headed Agama or a Ladakhi Rock Skink.

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This region is an unending delight to the ornithologist, and a great variety of birds can be seen here. Notable among these are the Siberian Crane, Flamingos, Grebes, Herons, Geese, Ducks, Pintails, Himalayan Griffon, Buzzards, Golden Eagle, Booted Eagle, Falcons, Snowcocks, Chukars, Black Necked Crane, Moorhens, Plovers, Sandpipers, pigeons, Owls, Oriental Turtle Dove, Hume's Short-toed Lark, Swifts, Hoopoe, Larks, Swallows, Wagtails, Dippers, Wrens, Accentors, Thrushes, Warblers, Bluethroats, Redstarts, Orioles, Shrikes, Magpies, Chough, Groundpecker, Snow-finches, Mountain-finches, Rose-finches, Crows, Ravens, Partridges,….

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You have to come here to believe it!

Article by Vidyut Kale