The mountain ungulates of Ladakh, India

Abstract

Eight species of wild ungulates occur in India's high-elevation steppe and mountain regions of Ladakh, with six listed as endangered and protected in India's or other international conservation laws. Two species are still quite common, with perhaps 11 000 blue sheep Pseudois nayaur and 6000 Asiatic ibex Capra ibex sibirica present today in Ladakh. Tibetan argali Ovis ammon hodgsoni, severely persecuted in the recent past, are now restricted to a few small populations totalling about 200 individuals in central and eastern Ladakh. The Ladakh urial Ovis vignei vignei, with current estimates of about 1000 in Ladakh, has apparently increased in recent years but is still threatened because its relatively accessible range is highly susceptible to human encroachment. Less than 50 Tibetan gazelle Procapra picticaudata remain in isolated pockets along the high eastern plains and about 200 Tibetan antelope Pantholops hodgsoni are usually present in Ladakh only during summer, wintering in China. The Tibetan wild ass or kiang Equus kiang has apparently recently increased in number, possibly approaching 1500 individuals in central and eastern Ladakh. A population of about 20 wild yak Bos grunniens is reported still to occur in one location along the eastern border with China. Following substantial sport hunting in the early part of this century and large reductions in some populations during border wars from the 1950s to the 1970s, conservation of these species has recently been enhanced by efforts of both the stage government of Jammu and Kashmir and India's central government, with the planning and initial designation of reserves in the establishment of a system of protected areas in Ladakh.