HIMALAYAN WILDLIFE.Pdf

HIMALAYAN m WILDLIFE pit; Himalayan Wildlife Habitat and Conservation t/ ^ 5 / S.S. NEGI CI N D U E INDUS PUBLISHING COMPANY NEW DELHI Preface The Himalaya are the most prominent feature on the face of the earth. They extend in an arcuate shape from the Indus gap in the north west to the Brahmaputra gap in the east. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh. Garhwal, Kumaun, Nepal, Darjeeling hills, Sikkim, Bhutan and most of Arunachal Pradesh lie in the Himalaya. Natural vegetation of this mountain chain is varied, both in compo sition and distribution. The principal forest types found in this mountain chain range from the wet evergreen forests in the eastern Himalayan foothills to the tropical dry forests ofJammu, the alpine meadows near the snowline and the open, stunted forests of the cold deserts. These forests and their adjoining tracts are the home of a large number of animals including tiger, leopard, snow leopard, clouded leopard, ele phant, rhinoceros, gaur, yak, Tibetan wild ass, sambhar, cheetal, musk deer, hog deer, barking deer, wild boar, brown and black bears, pheas ants, vultures, eagles, tits, warblers, snakes, crocodiles and jackals. This book discusses in briefthe mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes and amphibians found in different parts of the Hinrialaya. Importantnational parks,sanctuariesandbiosphere reservesset-uptoconserveandmanage the unique flora and fauna of this mountain chain havealso beendealt with in this book. It is hoped that this book will serve as a handy reference work on these topics for the foresters, wildlifers, naturalists, environmentalists and even the layman interested in knowing about the Himalayan wildlife and its management I am grateful to ShriA.K. Mukherjee Pr. C.C.F., ShriVP. Mohan, C.C.F (P&D)oflheH.P. forest department, myfriends andwell-wishers in the Indian Forest Serviceand elsewhere for their continued encourage ment in my endeavours. Thanksare also due to my wife Manju for her self-denial andtothepublishers forbringing outyetanother book byme in a short time. S.S. Negi Contents Preface 5 1. The Himalaya: An Introduction 9 2. Wildlife in the Himalaya 31 3. HimalayanMammals 40 4. Himalayan Birds 64 5. HimalayanReptiles and Fishes 115 6. Wildlife Conservationinthe Himalaya 139 Jammu and Kashmir 139 Himachal Pradesh 148 Garhwal and Kumaun 164 Nepal 178 Eastern Himalaya 18S Bibliography 203 Index 205 Plates 128-29 1 The Himalaya: An Introduction The Himalayaare the most magnificentfeatureon the face of the earth. They form the northern boundary of the Indian sub-continent. This mountain chain is a part of the complex folded mountains radiat ing from the Pamir Knot. These are Kun-lun, Sayan, Ling shan, Hin- dukush, Toros, Elburz, Dinarska, Pyrenes, Tien shan, Altai, Stanovoy and Yablonoy. The Himalayan mountain chain stretches from the Indus gap in the north-west to the Brahmaputra gap in the east. They extend along an arcuate shape for about 2400 kms. The width of these mountains varies from 150 kms to 300 kms (Bose 1972). iPhysical Set-up The Himalayaconstituteone of the youngestmountain systemsin the world. Jhingran (1980) wrote, "Whereas the mountains of penin sular India such as the Aravalli, the Nilgiris and the Eastern Ghats are 1500 to 2500 million years old and the Vindhyachals about 1000 million years old, the Himalaya date back to only about 40 million years". There is unquestioned evidence to prove that the Himalaya rose from under the sea. It is believed that before the mountain chain was formed there existed a Tethys sea between two land masses, viz, An- garaland to the north and Gondwana land to the south. Rivers from both these landmasses drained into theTethys sea.Millions of tons of sediment was deposited intothiswater-body which resulted insagging of the ocean bottom due toth? enormous weight. Thus, huge forces of stress and strain came into play. During this period thesouthern conti nent started moving northwards. Some volcanic activity also accom panied this whereby the partly-folded sediments began to rise out of the sea. Slowly the sea water i-ained out. It is believed that the Hima- 10 Himalayan Wildlife The Himalaya: An Introduction 11 laya were fonned due to a number of phases of uplift. These sedi 3. Higheror MainHimalaya ments were folded andfaulted into a series of complex siiuctures. ms is the main Himalayan mountain wall that towers above the Due to later phases of tectonic activity a younger fold-mountain lower Himalaya and the plains of northern India. The snowclad p^ chain was formed to the south of the Himalaya. This is the Siwalik tower to elevations of over 8000 mts. Mount Everest and other high range. It runs parallel to the main range in the west but gradually mountain peaks are apart of the main Himalayan wdl. FokUs of sea merges withit in theeasternregion. creatures are found in various parts of the main Himalaya. This proves The Himalaya may bedivided into four distinct physical regions the contention that this range was once under the sea. (from southto north). The southern slopes of the main Himalaya are steeper th^ to northern counterparts. Hundreds of glaciers of various ^exend 1.Outer orSiwalik Himalaya from the main Himalaya. Amongst the promment ^ This consists of the low rolling Siwalik hills that extend more or gotri, KhaUing and Pindari glaciers. They give nse to important nvers less p^lel to the main Himalayan range. The Siwalik hills are not such as Ravi, Beas. Yamuna, Ramganga, Ganga ^d Teesi^ very distinct in the eastern Him^ya where they tend to merge with The upper tracts of this great mountain wall ^ the Himalayan foothills. These hills are the youngest mountains in nent coverTf snow. The level above which snow ^s not meU ^ India. They bear fossils ofmammals, reptiles and birds. through the year is known as the snowline. It vanes from ai^ The southern face of the Siwalik hills is more steep than their The snowline is lower in the western Himalaya and higher mthe northern counterpart Seasonal streams locally known as choes, raus eastern parts of this mountain chain. The level of the and sots drain this region. These streams are in spate during the mon vary locally. It is lower in moist shady depressions and higher on soon season. exposedslopes. 2.Lower Himalaya These are the foothills of the main Himalayan range. They rise, to Ues «o„h of U.e elevations of over 2500 mts. Anumber of prominent ridges form a lavan mountain wall. The average elevation is usually over 3000 mK. part of the lower Himalaya. These include Dhauladhar. Shimla ridge. This is avast tableland or plateau that extends across the main ftrna- Mussoone ridge and Darjeeling-Ghoom ridge. laya It is apart of the Tibetan plateau that lies further north. Ladakh, lLuI Spiti Mustang-Bhot are some areas of the trans-ftmalaya. Mwalikc- hills mthe southlongitudinaland lowervalleysHimalayahaveinformedthe north.betweenThese arethe toown as dun valleys, viz, the Kiarda dun valley near Paonta Dehradun valley mGarhwal and PaUi dun valley near Ramnagar, The co.. flaSferdfe'^°"^^ sediments has made these valleys Wvers tro have formed flat open valleys in the lower Himalaya permanent^verupper reachesof snow.of theUetrims-Himalayarocky slop« areloo ' fSGarhwali"and''fnVi*Pokhra valley in Nepal. ASrinagarnumber (Alaknanda)of old lake basinftwvalley in vegetative cover. In the valleys the rivers have depo occur in lower Himalaya, viz. Kashmir valley that lies between the ties ofboulders and other sediments. Himalayan lowl and higher Himalaya and the Kathmandu Lley in NTp^et Anumber of glaciers descend down from the ^ ^ are believed to have been old lakes whose water-dried out mountain chain. The Siachen and the Indian important glaciers. Anumber ot •mpo'™'Sude O"" sub-continent rise in the trans-Hunalaya. The enab, Saduj andBrahmaputra. The Himalaya: An Introduction 13 12 Himalayan Wildlife 2. The Ganga System . Drainage Thedrainage system of theHimalaya is very complex. It consists The Ganga system drains bulk of the Himalayan chain. It receives of rivers, lakes and glaciers. While most of the glaciers are restricted water from the south-eastern face of the Shimla ridge to the Indo- to areas above the tree line, Himalayan rivers criss-cross the entire Nepal border near Darjeeling. The important rivers of this system are: mountain chain. In fact, a number of rivers are older than the moun a) The river Yamuna is a major tributary of the Ganga river. It tain system itself. These include Indus, Satluj and Brahmaputra. They rises from Yamunotri glacier in Uttarkashi district of Uttar Pradesh. The river has formed a deep V-shaped gorge as it cuts across the originate in southern Tibet and have cut across the main Himalayan lower Himalayan range (Nag Tibba-Mussoorie ridge). mountain wall. Lakes are found all over the Himalaya. They serve both as inland drainage basins and as a temporary basin for flowing Important tributaries of the Yamuna river are; (i) river Gin that water. drains eastern Himachal Pradesh, (ii) river Tons that rises as the Rupm There are three major river systems that drain the Himalaya, viz, and Supin from Har-ki-dun in Uttarkashi district, and (iii) nver Agl(^ the Indus system, the Ganga system, and the Brahmaputra system. that flows along an east-west course at the base of the Mussoorie ridge. - ..• 1. TheIndus System b) The river Bhagirathi is one of the two rivers which jom to The river Indus rises inthe snowy wastes near Mansarovar lake in form the river Ganga. It rises from Gaumukh, the snout of the Gan- Tibet. It flows through Ladakh where a number of important rivers gotri glacier at the base of Chaukhamba peak in Garhwal Himalaya. join it, viz, Shyok, Shigar, Gilgit, Zaskar etc. Thereafter the river This river has cuta deep gorge across the granitic rocks of the higher makes aright angle turn at the base of the Nanga Parbat and enters the Himalaya.

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