Photo StoryPublished : Dec 26, 2024Updated : Dec 30, 2024
A wetland of national and global importance and a key biodiversity area, the Hanle marshes and the wildlife that it nurtures need urgent protection from land-use changes
Text by: Abhishek Ghoshal
Photos by: Dhritiman Mukherjee
A wetland of national and global importance and a key biodiversity area, the Hanle marshes and the wildlife that it nurtures need urgent protection from land-use changes
“I’m not sure what I’m looking at,” said Dr George Schaller, intensely peering through his binoculars towards something moving in the horizon of the Kalak Tartar plateau in Ladakh’s Hanle region. Scanning the landscape beside the legendary conservationist, I was also looking at two moving dots on a distant hilltop. Were these Tibetan argali or Tibetan gazelle? Walking closer to the dots, we confirmed we were looking at two female argali. We felt good about spotting argali, but our eyes searched for gazelles — the only members of the Antilopinae subfamily in the Hanle-Kalak Tartar region. At Boser La (about 5,000 m altitude), we finally spotted a herd of gazelles with a few kiangs or Tibetan wild ass (Equus kiang). While kiangs are commonly seen when walking or driving around the Hanle region, gazelles are harder to spot. With only 100-150 gazelles remaining, Hanle-Kalak Tartar is the only refuge for Tibetan gazelles in India.
With its marshy basin, the Hanle River, originating from Imis La (5,290 m), drains into the Indus near Loma (4,100 m). This basin is home to an incredible range of biodiversity: Pallas’s cats to wolves, Eurasian eagle owls to black-necked cranes, and plateau pikas to Himalayan marmots. The basin also offers perfect conditions for the chang-ra (pashmina goats) of the Changpa community.
Owing to the Sino-Indian conflict during the 1960s and recent geopolitical tensions, Hanle Valley (being close to the border) has been strategic for the Indian defence forces, fuelling the construction of linear infrastructure and defence establishments. This has also contributed to a sharp rise in free-ranging (stray) dogs across the Hanle Valley. Additionally, since the 1960s, the Indian government settled a considerable population of the Changpa from the Tibetan Changthang side in the Indian Changthang, adding to livestock grazing pressure across the valley.
Hanle Valley falls within the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary. About 255 km southeast of Leh, Hanle village (4,200 m) sits amidst high-altitude marshes. The marshes support a wide variety of large and small mammals, migratory and resident birds, including the black-necked crane and bar-headed goose. The 17th-century Hanle gompa (monastery) of the Drukpa Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism overlooks the village and marshes.
Since around 2010, large tracts of the Hanle marshes have been impacted by poorly planned and indiscriminate land-use change for agriculture (as seen above), livestock grazing, diversion of water from the marshes, and construction of road networks. A particular rocky outcrop and the surrounding marshes near the Hanle village serve as a prime habitat for Pallas’s cat. The youth of Hanle village have formed a society to regulate tourism in Hanle, particularly to make the Pallas’s cat sightings eco-friendly and more sustainable.
Cover photo: A red fox (Vulpes vulpes) attempting to ambush a hoopoe.
The smallest and arguably the grumpiest looking wild cats in the world — Pallas’s cats (Otocolobus manual) — reside in the Hanle marshes and the surrounding rocky cliff-dominated hills. Locally called ribilik, they live in burrows and rock cavities in steppes and grasslands. Their smoky grey and orange-buff pelts offer them excellent camouflage in the landscape they inhabit. Their short legs enable them to be ambush predators, using short stalks as a predatory strategy rather than running. Broad paws act as snowshoes and help them move around seamlessly during Hanle’s long, snowy winters. During inclement weather, Pallas’s cats wrap their tails around their bodies for additional warmth. While hunting, they use “periscope” behaviour, repeatedly raising their head above the vegetation to check on prey.
Hanle Valley and its marshes are suitable habitats for wild canids. (1) Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are commonly seen in the villages of Hanle Valley, hunting birds, voles, and hares, and occasionally scavenging on livestock carcasses and garbage. (2) Wolves (Canis lupus chanco) can be seen trotting across the desolate landscape either in packs or alone. Wolves prey upon medium-sized wild herbivores like gazelles and young argali and kiang. They are often involved in killing the goats and sheep of Changpa herders, as they are easy domestic prey. Locals traditionally use inverted funnel-shaped wolf-traps (shang-dong) as an indigenous method to manage wolf depredation on their livestock. (3) A very rare wild canid in this region is the Tibetan sand fox (Vulpes ferrilata), a crepuscular (active at twilight) fox that lives in burrows, hollows, and rock crevasses, often close to human habitation. Sand foxes mainly feed on small wild mammals like pikas, voles, and marmots.
The Hanle marshes and the stretch along the Hanle River offer moist soil and habitats suitable for small burrowing mammals like marmots and pikas. (1) Himalayan marmots (Marmota himalayana), locally called phiya, can often be seen basking (early morning), foraging, or wrestling in their colonies along rivers and roads. Marmot colonies have intricate underground networks of burrows. Just before winter commences, marmots hoard the burrows with vegetation material and reline the burrows for their winter hibernation. (2) Among pikas, locally called zabra, plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) and Royle’s pika (Ochotona roylei) occur in Hanle. These are non-burrowing and non-hibernating small mammals living on slopes with rocks, boulders (talus), and existing burrow systems. Pikas are social animals; plateau pikas display both polyandry and polygyny.
Tibetan gazelle (Procapra picticaudata) or gowa is one of India’s rarest mammals. It is on the brink of local extinction. Through the 1960s and 70s, the Tibetan gazelle (along with kiang) in the Indian Changthang was persecuted to the point of almost local extinction. While the kiang recovered from the decimation and is now widely distributed across the Indian Changthang, the bulk of the Tibetan gazelle population is confined to just 100-150 sq km in the Kalak Tartar plateau of Hanle Valley. Usually, gazelles are seen in areas with forb-dominated vegetation, particularly pastures with Krascheninnikovia ceratoides, locally called gyab-shen. Gazelles co-occur with kiangs but avoid areas with other livestock, especially goat or sheep, as both eat almost the same vegetation. The gazelle population is yet to recover. Perhaps a combination of two factors has prevented them from bouncing back. The relatively fast recovery in kiang populations and increased livestock grazing pressure across the region with the resettlement of Changpas from the Tibetan Changthang.
Kiangs are perhaps the most common large-bodied wild mammals of the Hanle Valley and Changthang. They forage on a wide variety of vegetation along valley bottoms and high-elevation pastures. Following the decimation of kiang during the Sino-Indian conflict, kiang bounced back across the Indian Changthang once the hunting for meat stopped. Local people report that kiangs come over from the Tibetan to the Indian Changthang side regularly, perhaps because Tibetan Changpas or Chinese armed forces drive them away from their livestock grazing and farming areas. In the Indian Changthang, too, local people consider kiang competitors for their pashmina goats and move them away from their summer and winter pastures, often using pickup trucks.
The black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) is the ecological and cultural symbol of the lakes and wetland ecosystems of Ladakh. Locally called cha-thung-thung, the black-necked crane is the state bird of the union territory of Ladakh. It is given the highest level of protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is assessed as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List, and in Appendix I & II of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora (CITES), respectively. (1 &2) Black-necked cranes arrive in the Hanle Valley during late spring (May-June), breed through summer (July-August), and embark on return migration in autumn (Sept-October). Depredation of eggs and chicks by (3) free-ranging dogs (30-40 per cent of eggs are taken by dogs) is a major conservation threat for these migratory birds. The presence of free-ranging dogs highly influences their nest-site selection as well.
The Hanle marshes and the adjoining arid, steep, rocky, cliff-dominated hills are home to numerous birds of prey. (1) The Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo) is one of the largest owls globally and a top predator. Bright pumpkin orange eyes, feathery ear-tufts and mottled feathers make Eurasian eagle owls visually striking birds. They are very effective hunters owing to their large, powerful feet, shallow wing beats, and fast glide. Eurasian eagle owls may live up to 20 years in the wild. Another predatory bird in the Hanle marshes is the (2) peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). The Milkha Singh or Usain Bolt of predatory birds, peregrine falcons have been recorded to clock a diving speed of 390 km per hour. Adults have grey backs and long wings that almost reach the tip of the tail. Peregrine falcons are adaptable and occur in various habitats, including steep cliffs, coastal mudflats, and urban areas. Another raptor found in Hanle is the (3) upland buzzard (Buteo hemilasius), which mostly preys on voles, marmots, and pikas but is known to feed on the eggs of other birds as well.
Alongside large predatory birds, Hanle supports smaller birds like the groundpecker and twite. (1) Ground tit or groundpecker (Pseudopodoces humilis) does not resemble any other tit; instead, it resembles a bird from the corvid family. Ground tits have a notably dark-coloured curved bill. They might often use burrows of pikas and marmots as their shelter. (2) Twites (Linaria flavirostris) are finch of open steppe landscapes. They have short tails and stubby beaks. Males have a pink rump, while females have a brown rump. Twites are primarily seedeaters. They have a particularly nasal twitter and chirrups.
Managing the free-ranging or stray dog population in a humane manner needs to be top priority for conservation of the Hanle marshes to ensure the safety of human lives and reduce the negative impacts on different wild species. Better planning and implementation of land-use changes (for agriculture, livestock grazing), the utilisation of wetland water, and infrastructure expansion (public and defence) are needed for health of the wetland ecosystem. For both free-ranging dog management and land-use planning the different stakeholders (including local community institutions) need to join hands. Addressing these challenges in a coordinated manner will secure the future of the Hanle marshes and the long-term interests of human communities and biodiversity of the area.
About the contributors
Abhishek Ghoshal
is a wildlife biologist. He heads the Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Division at Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
is one of India's most prolific wildlife and conservation photographers. His work has been featured in leading publications. He is also a RoundGlass Ambassador, and an RBS Earth Hero awardee.
