Stories
Deserts
What are Deserts?
A desert is a region that receives very little rainfall—typically less than 250 mm (10 inches) a year—and experiences extremely dry conditions. Deserts can be hot, like the Thar Desert in India, or cold, like the Ladakh region in the Himalayas. Despite their harsh climates, they support specialised plants and animals adapted to survive with minimal water.
They are usually characterised by sparse vegetation, extreme temperatures, and rocky or sandy terrain. Some deserts also have dramatic landscapes shaped by wind, such as dunes, salt flats, and bare rocky plateaus.
Deserts are Diverse Ecosystems: Hot and Cold
In India, the most well-known hot desert is the Thar, spread across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, and Haryana. It is one of the most densely populated desert regions in the world. Unlike the image of lifeless dunes, the Thar is dotted with grasslands, scrub forests, salt flats, and seasonal wetlands. Summers here are harsh and dry, but the region sustains a variety of plant and animal life, shaped by communities like the Bishnois and their long traditions of human-wildlife coexistence.
Cold deserts in India are high-altitude, arid zones with low temperatures, thin vegetation, and minimal precipitation. The most prominent is in Ladakh, that extends into Spiti in Himachal Pradesh. These areas face long, freezing winters and short, dry summers.
Who Inhabits Deserts: Mammals, Birds and Reptiles
Deserts are home to animals specially adapted to harsh conditions: While hot deserts host the desert fox, chinkara, spiny-tailed lizard, and the elusive desert cat. Many species are nocturnal, emerging when it’s cooler. Wildlife in cold deserts includes the snow leopard, kiang, and Himalayan marmot, supported by hardy plants like seabuckthorn.
But deserts are fragile. Unsustainable grazing, mining, canal projects, wind and solar power installations, and invasive plants have changed their ecology. What looks like empty land is often full of life—deeply interconnected and easily disrupted.
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Photo Story
Dune Watching in the Thar: Skinks, Scorpions, and Other Small Wonders of the Desert Ecosystem
Photo Story
Mum’s the Word with the Desert Fox in the Little Rann
Wild Vault
How Local Communities Help Conserve the Snow Leopard
Photo Story
Big Little Lives: The Great Diversity of the Little Rann of Kutch
Species
The Forgotten Tale of Black-Bellied Sandgrouse
Species
Cross Connections: The Story of Humans, Urial, and their Kin
Photo Story
The Bear and I: A Quest to Photograph the Himalayan Brown Bear
Column
Swarmageddon: How Lonely Grasshoppers Turn Into an Army of Locusts
Infographic
Snow Leopard: Facts, Diet, and Where it’s Found in India
Photo Story
Pink City: When Flamingos take over the Little Rann of Kutch
Film
Tibetan Sand Fox: The Highland Hunter
Film
Gurudongmar: A Lake among the Peaks
Film
Orans of Rajasthan: A Sacred Oasis at the Cusp of Change
Film
A Study in Pink: The Flamboyant Flamingos of Kutch
Film
Wild, Wild West: Little Rann of Kutch and Velavadar
Film
Why the World’s Smallest Crane Flocks to a Dusty Village in Rajasthan
Film
Indian Desert Cat: Home in a Thorny Bush
Film
Ladakh Pika’s Winter Challenge
Film
The Khur of Kutch: The Indian Wild Ass and its Last Home
Conservation
Challenge and Change in the Changthang
Film
Snow Leopard: The Ghost of the Brown Mountains
Film
The Himalayan Brown Bear’s Life in Snow
Film
Great Indian Bustard’s Life on the Edge
Film
Bishnois: Guardians of the Chinkaras
Film
The Trotter of Ladakh’s Stark Mountains
Film
Agile Mountaineer: The Treacherous Summit of the Ibex
Film
Sun and Sand: Spiny-Tailed Lizard’s Day Out
Film
The Fox Trot: The Bushy-tailed Red Fox Goes on a Hunt
Film
The Ladakh Urial’s Life at the Edge
Film
All is Not Well with the Himalayan Marmot
Film
Thar: The Secret Lives of a Harsh Desert
Film
Vultures: Scavengers of the Sky at Risk
Travel
The Guide: Desert National Park
Conservation
How Village Folklore Helps Conserve the Ibex of Pin Valley
Infographic
Scorpions: Facts, Habitat, Defences
Species
Himalayan Wolf: The Howler of Hanle
Wild Vault
Delicate Balance: Agro-pastoral Life in the Spiti Valley
Conservation
Dogs on the Rooftop: Faithful Friends or Fierce Predators?
Wild Vault
Art Expedition: On the Trail of the Great Indian Bustard
Infographic
Spiny‑tailed Lizard: Facts, Size, Habitat
Photo Story
Under the Euphorbia: The Secret Lives of Asiatic Wildcats
Species
Rajasthan Toad-headed Agama: Master of the Shifting Sands
Conservation
Rajasthan’s Desert Ecology Impacted by Unusually Heavy Rains
Conservation
Pallas’s Cat: Silent Predator of the Trans-Himalayas
Photo Story
Dune Dinos: Laungwala Toad-headed Agama of the Thar Desert
Habitat
In Fine Feather: Spotting Birds in Ladakh
Explainer
Deserts Decoded
Infographic
Bearded Vulture: Facts, Diet, IUCN Status
Infographic
White-Browed Bushchat: Facts, Habitat, Threats
Infographic
Indian Wild Ass: Facts, Habitats, Threats
Infographic
MacQueen’s Bustard: Courtship Rituals, Habitat, Threats
Photo Story
Dance of the Black-necked Cranes in Ladakh
Photo Story
Running Free: Tibetan Wild Ass of the Trans-Himalaya
Photo Story
Hunters of the Thar: Raptors in Desert National Park
Photo Story
Keep Calm and Carrion: The Great Vulture Gathering in Jorbeed, Rajasthan
Photo Story
Crossing Paths with the Pallas’s Cat in the Trans-Himalaya
Photo Story
Demoiselle Cranes and the Great Kheechan Mela
Hero
Musa Khan: Birding Star of Desert National Park
News
Dune Crickets: The Underdogs of the Thar Desert
Wild Vault
High and Dry: The Gradual Erosion of Ladakh’s ‘Dry Toilet’ Culture
Conservation
In the Pink: Health and Herding in the Himalayas
Conservation
Brooding over the Black-Necked Crane
Conservation
Can the Quick Red Fox Jump Over the Ladakhi Dog?
Habitat
Desert National Park: The Abundant Life of the Sand and Scrubs
Habitat
The Daily Dichotomies of Gujarat’s Little Rann of Kutch
Species
Himalayan Marmots: Sharp Sentinels of Ladakh
Species
Shadow in the Sand: Encountering the Toad-headed Agama in Ladakh
Species
White-browed Bushchat: The Enigmatic Desert Dancer
Species
The Trickster of the Desert: Greater Hoopoe Lark
Species
Meet Spiny, the Only Herbivorous Lizard Species in India
Species
Tactical Tails: Life Moves in Slow Motion for the Spiny-tailed Lizard
Species
Unfair Game: The Plight of the MacQueen’s Bustard
Species
Horned Lark: The Crazy Bird and its Crazy Nest
Infographic
Laungwala Toad-headed Agama: Facts, Habitat, Threats
Species
Indian Desert Jird: Tiny Musketeer of Rajasthan’s Thar Desert
Habitat
The Kair: Lifeline of the Desert
Species
Pussyfooting Parliamentarians: Short-eared Owls in the Little Rann
Infographic
Indian Desert Fox: Facts, Diet, Habitat
Infographic
Himalayan Blue Sheep: Facts, Habitat, Population
Species
Dung Beetles: The Little Things That Run the World
Conservation
Garnering Community Support for the Great Indian Bustard
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