Snow Leopard Scouting @Hemis High Altitude National Park, Leh

Blog of the Snow Leopard Scouting Trip with WWF Explorers to Hemis High Altitude National Park, Leh / Ladakh, 10-19 Feb 2014.  


Snow Leopards (Panthera Uncia - an endangered species listed in IUCN Red-list http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22732/0) are the most mysterious and hard to find large cats, colloquially known as the #GREY-GHOSTS of the Mountains, living here in one of the most rugged and harsh terrains, their #Trans-himalayan #COLD-DESERT habitat. 

With 4400 sqkm area, Hemis National Park is the largest in India; the altitude ranges between 3000m - 6000m high terrain of the trans-Himalayan cold-desert within Ladakh district of Jammu & Kashmir. According to experts, Snow Leopards are most likely/easier to be spotted, with some luck, during the peak winter in Feb at lower altitudes around 3500m, and during summer with the prey species of mountain goats and sheep going higher up for grazing, the snow leopards also go to higher reaches around 5400m and above.

A brief WWF presentation on Snow Leopard conservation, prepared by our trip team lead and Snow Leopard researcher Aishwarya Maheshwari is available for download from here. More detailed reports by him on Snow Leopard conservation in J&K (Kargil area), Himachal (Spiti area) and Uttarakhand, are available here.

According to Aishwarya, India's population estimate for Snow Leopards is between 400-700 individuals, and 60% of the population is within Jammu & Kashmir- within that, the highest population density is reported within Hemis National Park. 

Hemis National Park has a great conservation success story, and it really felt good to know about the measures taken there to minimise human-wildlife conflicts (that is a major issue almost all across India). On the last night of our camping, it was inspiring (as it would be for any wildlife enthusiast), to listen to the local wildlife guard Khundrup explain with earnestness and pride about the model system for conservation they too helped set up in Hemis; It was also about his colleagues' and community's initiatives to improve the eco system for both people and wildlife, building awareness and inspiring youngsters with a sense of responsibility and pride about sustaining and protecting their iconic species. While there are community participatory programs with high level of involvement of the local population, there are also eco-tourism initiatives with minimal impact to the ecosystem and waste management, all of which have fed back to make CONSERVATION & COEXISTANCE a ground reality that works both ways! 

For me personally, the experience of camping out during peak winter in the Himalayas for the first time. Even though once I did a 'Himalayan Winter Trek' in the foothills of the Western Himalayas from Dalhousie to Chamba valley in Himachal Pradesh (which happens to be 10years ago!, I realise now), that was nowhere near this experience in the Great Himalayas- Thanks to our organiser Karishma of WWF and our fantastic, pleasant team lead Aishwarya of WWF, who's doing very admirable work- he has been researching Snow Leopards in the Himalayas for 6 years for his PhD, after his masters at Wildlife Institute of India. He has travelled across the Himalayas and beyond for his work!. 

 The Photo gallery [ the shots from mobile phone are not included in this album Slideshow;
 They are shown separately below]

[The following images are all shot with the mobile phone only.]

During Camping @ Hemis High Altitude National Park (campsite at 3630m), Leh,
Western Himalayas

Pug marks of a Snow Leopard (a mother, with that of a sub-adult trailing alongside- see below)
on the frozen Jing Chen river (a minor tributary of River Indus which flows through Leh) with a dusting of an inch of snow from previous evening. This trail on the last day of our camping, led to our lucky 2nd sighting of 2 snow leopards together.

[The WWF guide on Identifying Pugmarks  (pdf document)]

Two Paths Crossed in the Wild:
Pug marks of a sub-adult Snow Leopard and that of  a Red Fox!

Wild Tracks : The Red Fox & The Snow Cock ? (or possibly of the Chukar Partridge)
Early morning, after I went to pee on the snowy rocks around the Campsite, I trailed the red fox footprints- As it crossed the river, the bird's footprints crossed them. 

The Red Fox seemed to be a regular at nighttime looking for tasty bites from dinner plates.

It seemed to be quite foxy to avoid human's eyes as well- As I stayed awake almost all night to watch for it, without any success (while trying to catch the Star-trails on camera with such clear night sky, though photographically that also was spoiled by the bright moonlight, it was some experience in the harsh cold winds, with frost enveloping on the lens after half an hour long exposure!.)

Kazim, one of our guides from Kargil at the Hemis campsite,
fetching water from the river after breaking though the frozen layer

Scouting for Snow Leopard @Hemis High Altitude NP (the habitat ranges from 3000m -6000m of treeless Trans-Himalayan Cold Desert).
India's largest density of Snow Leopards is found here 
(according to some estimates, around 200, in an area of 4400 sq km)
Our WWF Explorers team of 8, (including the admirable, strong-willed 57yr old Rameshji from Chennai, who made the  tough terrain look easier for his physique and age with his tougher psyche; a veteran of WWF outings and a world traveller). 
#MountainPanorama (click to enlarge)

All the campers, mostly foreigners excitedly on the lookout for the 2 Snow Leopards that were spotted early in the morning, with pug marks seen on the frozen river  close to our campsite, within 100m or so!.
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life. Awakening from the stupefying effects of the vice of over-industry and the deadly apathy of luxury, they are trying as best they can to mix and enrich their own little ongoings with those of Nature, and to get rid of rust and disease.” 
― John Muir

Man and The Mountain:
The youngest of the WWF Explorers squad, 17yr old Jonak Joey, sitting on a ridge about 3900m (towards right bottom- see photo below for zoomed shot- click to enlarge), scanning for Snow Leopards on the next mountain where a couple were spotted for about 6hrs, the previous day, when we've all had an eyeful ogling at them relaxing in the sun on a high ridge. 
I climbed a little further from where he was sitting and waiting. 
It was tough steep climb with loose ground and scree, to the site where a bunch of foreign professional photographers who went ahead were scanning for the Snow Leopard.
Among them, were Alex from Germany who had asked me on the way up to take a few shots for him on his Nikon D4, ( searching for Snow-Leopard mood shots :). He said he had spent a month in Kyrgystan looking for Snow Leopards, but without success.
14 Feb 2014.
#MountainPanorama (click to enlarge)

SOLITUDE!
Jonak, who preferred solitude, peering through his binocs, 
scanning the mountains for  the Grey Ghosts.

“Keep close to Nature's heart...and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean…
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn”  
- John Muir

Dorje, one of our guides starts scanning the mountains with  spotting scopes
from early morning before sunrise, looking for any sighs of snow leopards.

The Campsite after a Snowy Night and battering Cold Winds @ -23degC

Fantastic Mr Fox :)
Our fantastic and friendly WWF Explorers team lead, Aishwarya Maheshwari at the Campsite.
He has been a Snow Leopard researcher with Wildlife Institute of India for  6yrs,
with the study area stretching across the Great Himalayas,
with his focus site around Kargil &Dras in Western Himalaya.
He obviously has an enviably huge wealth of information and experience of the Himalayas, its people and its ecosystem.

One of the team mates Partho Roy from Calcutta with our local guide Manla, Taking a break from Snow Leopard spotting ;) .
On the trek back to the campsite from the small Rumbak village @4000m.

When a snow-storm hit while I was out birding on the mountain slope,
spying on some Robin Accentor and Brown Accentor - new species for me, the Trans-Himalayan winter residents.
While I was focusing on a bird that was active and foraging even in the midst of the snow-storm,
and when just about to shoot one, heard Partho calling out for me - an SOS/distress call! He was coming up the slope towards this crag, that he was slipping down and will tumble and fall if not pulled up. When I leaned over the rock from where I was standing here, saw him clinging onto the slope, 'on all three' - trying to pull himself up with one hand, struggling helplessly unable to free the other hand holding a Canon 7D with 100-400mm attached that he can't put anywhere.. either him or the camera or both may have fallen a few meter down anytime if he tried to come out of the situation by himself! :)  I put my backpack down and went down for the 'mountain rescue' ;)
This was shot by Partho when I was back, lifting my backpack and back on to look for birds.

[ That late afternoon, I was hoping for an outside chance of getting a Snow Leopard while snowing (just dreaming,
 after seeing NatGeo's Steve Winter's stunning camera-trap shot of a Snow Leopard in a Snowstorm from Hemis,
 that won the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008 award - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7696188.stm ),
 then I settled for a more reachable goal- capturing at least the birds while snowing.. 
But in the end, ironically, all I got was this shot! ;) ]

The Indus Valley:
River Indus flows in the valley between the two Great Himalayan Ranges-
The Ladakh Range in the North and the Zanskar Range in the South (seen here in the background).

In the topo map below, can see R Indus, flowing down diagonally from Tibet (bottom right) - from SouthEast towards NorthWest- to India, passing by Hemis (towards the centre). 

Ladakh - Topo Map

Local Wildlife Map - Around Rumbak village @4000m
The denizens include Argali, Bharal, Tibetan Wolf, Wild Dog, Snow Cock, Marmots, Snow Leopard et al..
Along with 9 families of humans!

#Ladakh #Wildlife #Mammals

Just 2 days after we (WWF explorers team) left Hemis, it was both thrilling and in a way, a bit disappointing (for our luck slipping by 2 days), to read this on Nat Geo Newswatch- 

Witness the First Ever Successful Snow Leopard Kill Caught on Camera

based on shots by the South African photographer from Hemis, whom we were talking to. He was leading a group of photographers at a campsite just next to ours; They got lucky to witness the kill, and capture it fabulously too!.

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Documentary from Hemis National Park: 
SILENT ROAR: SEARCHING FOR THE SNOW LEOPARD

Osprey Rising Like Phoenix Over England

Like a Phoenix, The #Osprey is rising again above the landscape of England, where it had gone #extinct in the 1840s, and in all of UK by 1916 - due to illegal #EggCollection/ persecution/ #HabitatLoss. This particular breeding pair is considered a major milestone in the re-introduction program of Ospreys in England, as this is the first pair not to include a translocated bird. The male in flight, codenamed 5R(04), born here in 2004,  from a translocated Scottish bird, started breeding in 2010, has raised 8 chicks in the last 3 years, with this female which is believed to be Scotland-born, that stopped and settled to breed on its way back from West Africa to Scotland. [At Rutland, central England]

[This is a pretty bad, very long-range shot (@650mm with teleconverter, F11, 1/640s), of the nest across the lake, some 250-300m away, that I would have normally trashed, but for the story it has to tell, I decided to keep it. The only shot with some action after 90min wait:). Also, later when zoomed it to max, realised there is something more interesting than I thought- more than what was seen through camera- The male was bringing in some fish to the nest, as the mother bird which stays in the nest looks on. With 3 1-week old chicks(27/May), I was told, daily it was bringing a foot long fish 5-6 times.. to the >1m wide nest. They would be ready to fly after 6 weeks. 
Live Webcam of this nest: http://www.ospreys.org.uk/webcam/ ]

This was a moment I had waited for years.. to experience and capture- watching them in flesh and blood, when in the mood of raising chicks- putting all their energy into bonding/caring for/raising chicks...absolutely focused!.

Though the Osprey is considered as the second most widely distributed raptor species in the world, after the Peregrine Falcon, my first and only sighting of them before this, was on the new year's day of 2004 ..On the edge of vast stretches of waterlogged paddy fields..close to Guruvayur.. When I had volunteered for the bird survey of Kole wetlands in Thrissur, organised by the Kerala Agricultural University.. 

I had left the revelling, boozing-on-the-streets, honking-along-in-raucous-celebration, wildly boisterous Bangalore city crowd behind on New Year's eve, with a silence growing into me, dreaming of the surprises of the bird world in God's Own countryside.. 

For me, the Osprey was one of the surprises- It is a winter visitor there (from Russia?).

 Osprey, the best fishing machine on wings, the most elegant and skillful at fishing - the best footages I've seen:

Extinction & Re-introduction in England (from a population Re-colonising Scotland) :

The last breeding pair in England was recorded in the 1840s. From Scotland, they disappeared after 1916, with natural re-colonisation by Scandinavian birds from 1954 (which migrate over/ through UK). The natural re-colonisation was very slow, because of #pesticide contamination of the food chain (99% of their diet is fish, which means the water bodies have pesticide run-off from farms etc).
  [wiki] : There was a medieval belief that fish were so mesmerised by the Osprey that they turned belly-up in surrender, and this is referenced by Shakespeare in Act 4 Scene 5 of Coriolanus:
I think he'll be to Rome
As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it
By sovereignty of nature.

A re-introduction program was started in England 1997, with newly hatched chicks brought from Scotland. From that, a male started breeding 4years later (including 3 migration cycles, to West Africa and back). Since then, it's been breeding every year after returning from migration, raising 30 chicks in 12 years, including this year.  One of them is this male in flight, born in 2004, and started breeding in 2010 with the female seen on the nest, believed to be a bird from Scotland that stopped and settled here to breed on its return migration route from Africa. And this particular breeding pair is considered a major milestone in the re-introduction project, indicating its success, as this is the first pair not to include a translocated bird.. Giving hope.. in these initial steps towards reaching a self-sustaining population without intervention. 

Overall, 62 chicks have fledged till 2012 from nests around here.

In a recent  tweet-a-thon hour, end of May, with the theme/tag  #naturesintrouble when the British Trust for Ornithology (@_BTO) was replying to questions, I asked about the current Osprey population estimate for UK. The reply: "2006-10 #Osprey estimate for UK was 200-250 pairs"
It was estimated that it could take at least 150 years for Ospreys to naturally re-colonise the whole of the UK.

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More About Ospreys:

They are large birds with around 1.5m wingspan, 20-25yrs lifespan! Interestingly, when they are 3 months old, before winter, they fly alone to West Africa, ~4500km, often crossing the Sahara. The juveniles don't return until after 2-4yrs..or even older. In couple of more summers, typically 3-5yrs they are ready to settle with a partner.

Re-introduction Program:

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/osprey-facts/breeding-at-rutland-water/

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/osprey-facts/the-translocation-project/

Satellite Tracking:

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/category/satellite-tracking/

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/a-flight-across-the-sahara/
"For any Osprey migrating from the UK to West Africa, the Sahara is undoubtedly the most demanding phase of the journey. For three to four days the birds must battle across one of the most barren, inhospitable places on planet earth without any food. The rewards once they get to West Africa are great, but actually getting there is not easy."

How hazardous is the Sahara Desert crossing for migratory birds?

Indications from satellite tracking of raptors

http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/6/3/297
By evaluating more than 90 journeys across this desert by four species of raptors (Osprey Pandion haliaetus, Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus, Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus and Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo) recorded by satellite telemetry. Forty per cent of the crossings included events of aberrant behaviours, such as abrupt course changes, slow travel speeds, interruptions, aborted crossings followed by retreats from the desert and failed crossings due to death, indicating difficulties for the migrants. The mortality during the Sahara crossing was 31% per crossing attempt for juveniles (first autumn migration), compared with only 2% for adults (autumn and spring combined). Mortality associated with the Sahara passage made up a substantial fraction (up to about half for juveniles) of the total annual mortality, demonstrating that this passage has a profound influence on survival and fitness of migrants. Aberrant behaviours resulted in late arrival at the breeding grounds and an increased probability of breeding failure (carry-over effects). This study also demonstrates that satellite tracking can be a powerful method to reveal when and where birds are exposed to enhanced risk and mortality during their annual cycles.

Linking Kids &Cultures Through Birds, Sensitising People through Education, for Protecting Nature:

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/osprey-facts/west-africa/