Photograph of Snow Leopard

A Snow Leopard which ate two goats being kept in a stone hut, and which slept in the hut afterwards. The photograph was taken near Skardu in North Pakistan in late 1985 by Kazmi, a forestry officer, while Rob Roberts and Nigel Wheatley were taking a break from looking for Snow Leopards there! They were in India and Nepal, waiting for the snow to push them lower.

NORTHWESTERN INDIA


Best Wildlife in Northwestern India

Mammals
A good chance of Snow Leopard, Blue Sheep (Bharal), (Tibetan) Argali, (Ladakh) Urial, pikas, Himalayan Marmot, Woolly Hare, Mountain Weasel and Red Fox, and also a chance of Asiatic Ibex, Pallas's Cat and Beech Marten.

Birds
Lammergeier, Ibisbill, Wallcreeper, White-browed Tit Warbler and Guldenstadt's Redstart, as well as Goosander, Himalayan Snowcock, Chukar, Himalayan Griffon Vulture, Golden Eagle, Hill Pigeon, Alpine and Red-billed Choughs, Shore Lark, Brown and White-throated Dippers, Black-throated Thrush, Blue Whistling Thrush, Brown and Robin Accentors, Fire-fronted Serin, Great and Streaked Rosefinches, Brandt's and Plain Mountain Finches, and Tibetan Snowfinch. Also a chance of Solitary Snipe and Eurasian Eagle Owl.

Best Sites for Wildlife in Northwestern India

Best Times for Wildlife in Northwestern India

The best times to look for Snow Leopard are the first half of March, before the main prey, Blue Sheep, usually begin to climb higher in search of fresh grazing as the snow melts, and the second half of November when the Blue Sheep usually descend again to avoid fresh snow.

Recommended Books etc. for Northwestern India

Birds and Mammals of Ladakh by O Pfister. OUP, 2004.

Field Guide to Indian Mammals by V Menon. Helm, 2009.

Field Guide to the Mammals of the Indian Subcontinent by K K Gurung and R Singh. Helm, 1998.

Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by R Grimmett, and C and T Inskipp. Helm, due 2011.

A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by K Kazmierczak. Helm, 2008.

Field Guide to the Birds of Northern India by R Grimmett and T Inskipp. Helm, 2003.

Pocket Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by R Grimmett, and C and T Inskipp. Helm, 1999.

A Birdwatchers' Guide to India by K Kazmierczak and R Singh. Prion, 1998.

Trip Reports for Northwestern India

Many trip reports, some for Northwestern India, are posted on the websites listed here. On some of these websites some reports are independent and some are posted by tour companies who organize tours to Northwestern India. These tour companies and others also post their own reports on their websites, which are listed under 'Some Organized Tours to Northwestern India' below.

Local Guides and Tours in Northwestern India

The costs of organized tours partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ. If you are travelling independently, employing such local guides will greatly increase your chances of seeing the wildlife you wish to see.

Accommodation in Northwestern India

Some Organized Tours to Northwestern India

There are many tour companies who organize tours to see mammals, birds, other wildlife and other natural wonders. The cost of these tours vary considerably according to such variables as the airlines used, the number of days the tours last, the number of sites visited, the number of people in the group (an important consideration if you wish to see such wildlife as rainforest mammals and birds), the number of tour leaders, the standard of accommodation and transport, and the percentage profit the company hopes to make. Generally, where the number of days tours last and the number of sites visited are similar, the cheapest tours are those that use the cheapest airlines, accommodation and local transport, that have the largest groups with the least number of leaders, and that make the least amount of profit. The most expensive tours tend to be those which are exceptionally long, use the most expensive accommodation (ridiculously lavish in some cases, even for single nights) and which make the most profit. Some tour costs partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ.

While tour companies organize tours with set itineraries many also organize custom tours for individuals and private groups who instead of taking a tour with a set itinerary want to follow their own itinerary to suit their own personal tastes, whether it be mammals, birds, other wildlife, other natural wonders or even man-made attractions, or a mixture of them all. Many organized tours with set itineraries are also fast-paced and target as many species as possible, whether they are mammals, birds or other wildlife or everything, which usually leaves little time to enjoy the best sites and individual species, but on a custom tour those taking part can specify the pace and the sites and species they wish to concentrate on. Custom tours also suit people who like to travel with people they already know, rather than with a group of strangers, and people with partners with different interests. Individuals and small groups will almost certainly have to pay more than the price of an organized tour with a set itinerary but a large group of friends may be able to travel for less than the price quoted for a set tour.

Tour companies who run organized tours or can arrange custom tours to Northwestern India include the following.