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Himalayan Wildlife

We always see wildlife on our treks, but we don't always have the camera ready.
But here are the times when we did...
Especially in the Khumbu we can guarantee that you will see a range of animals,
and I reckon we can see snow leopard in Kanchenjunga without trying too hard.

blue sheep in Ladakh

Bharal or Blue Sheep in Ladakh, they are commonly seen all over the high Himalaya.

Ravens in an amazing dogfight maneuver at Cho Oyu ABC, 5700m
The limits of my Minolta 7i digital camera too.

The nine iridescent colours are famous throughout Nepal. They live mostly close to the tree line and are rarely seen while trekking, except in the Khumbu, where you will almost certainly see one, and in winter you may see many.

 Danfe pheasant
large adult snow leopard prints

I have seen a snow leopard twice, but I don't have pictures. Instead this is a photo from the snow leopard in Darjeeling.

We have seen plenty of track in the snow though. Above: Dave took these in Kangchenjunga, in fact some passed between the tents at a remote camp.

Left: these were photographed by Wanda, also on a Kangchenjunga trek. We followed them for a few hours then saw the snow leopard - and two cubs.

Musk deer are hunted throughout the Himalaya for the musk pod in the male so normally they are very shy animals. However, because they are not hunted in the Khumbu, they are easy to spot there - if you know what you are looking for. This female was about 7 metres off the main trail going up to Tengboche. There were yak trains, gabbling porters and happy trekkers wandering past. None of them saw it while it was sitting on a rock on full view of the trail.

 

Tibetan Snowcock up at Gorak Shep in the Everest region. They are surprisingly tame and will almost eat out of your hand. They are well camouflaged for the alpine tundra and would be difficult to spot, except that when alarmed they cackle so much you just have to spot them.

Tibetan Snowcock at Shishapangma BC - photo by Mark Hose

Tibetan antelope

Yes, well, this brings to mind that classic Gary Larson cartoon where there is a deer with what looks like a target
on its side and the other deer saying "bummer of a birthmark, Hal".

the rare Tibetan Black Crane, which you happen to see a lot in the right season

The relatively rare and protected Tibetan Black-necked crane, who are usually found in pairs

I'm not chasing the Kiang - but Rupshu, the silly dog is. Later they turned to face her and reared.
She ran with her tail between her legs. Taken by Joel in Ladakh.

bearded vulture or Lamageier

Check out the beard - it isn't called a bearded vulture for nothing! Also called a Lammergeyer/Lammergeier eagle.
(This is tightly cropped from a slide shot with a Canon 75-300mm Image Stabilizer lens at 300mm at 1/60th,
taken on a Mera Peak expedition.)

 

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And this one is a bald Himalayan Griffon, note the broad, short tail compared to the Lammergeyer.

It is common to see herds of Tahr (Thar) in Langtang and especially the Everest region,
where they are not shy and you can move to within perhaps 5 metres (!) before they get skittish.
This is a large male that lives close to Namche.

Blood pheasant

A blood pheasant in the Everest region.

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jdesign -- all rights reserved -- frozen in time July 2013