Ladakh Tourism --» Wildlife in Ladakh --» Predators (Snow leopard, Brown bear, Wolf, Lynx)

Predators (Snow leopard, Brown bear, Wolf, Lynx)

As is invariably the case everywhere, predators tend to be fewer, both in number as well as diversity, than their prey. This applies even more strongly to the alpine region where the availability of food is so greatly reduced.

The snow leopard, or ounce, is truly a predator of the heights, living nowhere else at all. Perhaps the most magnificent animal of the mountains, it is cream colored on the chest and under parts, with a thick coat of ghostly gray marked with black rings or rosettes.

This coloring forms a perfect camouflage against rocks and snow and allows the carnivore to hunt by surprise.

High in the mountains, this solitary animal hunts goats, ibex, blue sheep and shapu by following them up and down the slopes in their seasonal migration. During the winter, snow leopards stalk the lower mountains, often feeding on domestic stock.

Observations seem to indicate that this animal hunts in the early morning and late afternoons. Despite the heavy toll taken by poachers, the population of the snow leopard in Ladakh is estimated to be roughly 200.

With almost 40-50 skins smuggled out of Ladakh in the 1950's, 30-40 in the 1960's and 10-15 still being slipped out, the main enemy of this animal is, undoubtedly, man. Two other carnivores inhabiting this mountain home for the great bears.

The medium-sized Himalayan black bear (Selenarctos thlbetanus), a forest dweller, is found up to heights of 4,500 meters in the summer. Like most bears it feeds on practically anything ranging from fruit and ripe corn to sheep, goats, deer and even termites.

Its usual home is in dug-out hollows or caves. Further up the mountain lives the more adaptive brown bear(Ursus arctos) which has a population of around 200(of which approximately 20 are found in the Kargil area- the rest in the Zanskar valley).

Three or four pairs of black bears have also been spotted here during the months of July and August when fruits like apricots and apples ripen.

The wolf population in Ladakh is likely to be around 300 and consists of two basic varieties. The northern race is light fawn and brown whereas the southern is invariably darker.

These wolves, probably the most hated predators in Ladakh, hunt in pairs and move over vast territories. It is observed one particular regularly moving across a narrow valley at dusk. The red fox exists in larger numbers but many are, unfortunately trapped for fur.

From western Ladakh alone, about skins are possibly smuggled out every year. The stone marten, a pretty, alert and active animal is also hunted for its fur; again about 400 skins are smuggled out annually.

Also found in the remote region at a height of 4,400 meters is an attractive isabelline cat, the lynx or eeh as it is locally called. Lynx are fawn and white in the winter and slightly darker in the summer. They may sometimes be mistaken for wolves as their ear tufts stand out prominently. The tail is short and dark. Marmots, snowcocks and hares constitute t he lynx's normal diet.




Animals Found in Ladakh:

- Yak
- Nyan
- Urial
- Ibex
- Predators (Snow leopard, Brown bear, Wolf, Lynx)
- Avifauna



Wildlife in Ladakh Reservation Form