Abstract: It provides data concerning location, climate, landscapes, altitude zoning, flora and fauna of the Sary Chelek nature reserve. Currently in nature reserve recorded 41 mammals, 157 birds, 5 reptiles, 2 amphibians and 5 fishes. Snow leopard, wild ibex, argali and dhole inhabited in alpine zone. Number of ibex is 400 individuals.

Abstract: The quantity of ungulates is high in the nature reserve: moral (100-120), roe deer (500-650), Siberian ibex (660-700), and wild boar (50-80). Moreover some 5,000 heads of livestock (mostly sheep) are grazed in a buffer zone in summer. Among big predators (snow leopard, bear, lynx) wolf kills about 40 percent of ungulates.

Abstract: The Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), locally called chiru, is mainly confined to the Tibetan plateau in China. A small population migrates into Chang Thang in eastern Ladakh in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. The chiru has a geographical range extending approximately 1,600 km across the Tibetan Plateau, with an eastern limit near Ngoring Hu (Tibet Autonomous Region) and a western limit in Ladakh (India). Large-scale hunting for wool and meat has resulted in a decline of its population and only an estimated 75,000 individuals of this species survive in the world today. Its status in India has not been studied in any detail, although sporadic spot surveys have been done in the past. Similarly, very little information is available on status of wild yak (Bos grunniens), the progenitor (closest ancestor) of the domestic yak in India. The animal is distributed mainly in the highlands of the Tibetan plateau including the Qinghai province, Tibetan and Xinjiang autonomous regions and the Quilian mountains in the Gansu province. Small nomadic isolated populations are reported from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), and even smaller numbers occasionally from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in India. To obtain further information primarily about these two species, the Department of Wildlife Protection, Jammu & Kashmir (DWP) along with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the Indian Army initiated surveys in Ladakh in the years 2005 and 2006. Surveys were conducted in the Chang Thang and Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuaries of Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir. The Chang Chenmo (Chang Thang) area lies in the eastern part of Ladakh just north of the famous Pangong Lake, while the Karakoram WLS lies in the north-eastern part of Ladakh, south of the Karakoram Pass. The team found 250 – 300 chiru in the Karakoram area in addition to other mammal species. Both male and female chiru were sighted here between altitudes of 4735 m and 5336 m. A total of 230 individuals were sighted (after deleting double counts) in the year 2005 and 45 individuals in 2006. Based on this, it is estimated that between 250-300 individuals occur in this area. Mean group size of chiru was 4.66±0.435 and varied between one to 34 individuals during 2005, and 4.5 ± 2.77 (SE) during 2006. Apart from chiru, other species encountered from the area includes Tibetan wolf (Canis lupus chanco), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), pale or mountain weasel (Mustela altaica), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), Ladakh urial (Ovis vignei), blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), woolly hare (Lepus oiostolus), Ladakh pika (Ochotona ladacensis), Royle's pika (Ochotona roylei), Nubra pika (Ochotona nubrica), plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae), Stoliczka's mountain vole (Alticola stoliczkanus) and silvery mountain vole (Alticola argentatus).

Abstract: As part of a project looking at the history of ‘colonial forestry’ I have been studying forest and land management in India during the period from about 1860 to 1920. The subject is of interest because the forest conservation policies and management practices developed in India at that time later became a template for early forest policies and practices in Australia (where I have worked nearly all of my life as a forester), New Zealand, South Africa and the United States of America.
An unexpected outcome of my research was to find that 19th and early 20th century Indian foresters were also deeply concerned about Indian wildlife, and that in their published writings on this issue can be discerned some of the earliest concepts of professional wildlife management.
The outcome was unexpected because a notable aspect of forestry in India in the 19th century was the widespread love of hunting wild animals, or shikar, amongst officers of the Indian Forest Service. Sometimes this was done in the line of duty, a forester being called out to dispatch a rogue elephant or a man-eating tiger. But hunting was also regarded by many (especially those who had transferred from the Army into the Forest Service) as a sport, a contest between man and beast. And despite his firepower, it was a contest in which 19th century man did not always come out on top.

Abstract: There is recent evidence to suggest that domestic livestock deplete the density and diversity of wild herbivores in the cold deserts of the Trans-Himalaya by imposing resource limitations. To ascertain the degree and nature of threats faced by Himalayan ibex (Capra sibirica) from seven livestock species, we studied their resource use patterns over space, habitat and food dimensions in the pastures of Pin Valley National Park in the Spiti region of the Indian Himalaya. Species diet profiles were obtained by direct observations. We assessed the similarity in habitat use and diets of ibex and livestock using Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling. We estimated the influence of the spatial distribution of livestock on habitat and diet choice of ibex by examining their co-occurrence patterns in cells overlaid on the pastures. The observed co-occurrence of ibex and livestock in cells was compared with null-models generated through Monte Carlo simulations. The results suggest that goats and sheep impose resource limitations on ibex and exclude them from certain pastures. In the remaining suitable habitat, ibex share forage with horses. Ibex remained relatively unaffected by other livestock such as yaks, donkeys and cattle. However, most livestock removed large amounts of forage from the pastures (nearly 250 kg of dry matter/day by certain species), thereby reducing forage availability for ibex. Pertinent conservation issues are discussed in the light of multiple-use of parks and current socio-economic transitions in the region, which call for integrating social and ecological feedback into management planning.