Nubra Valley Animals

Wednesday, 9 September 2015

On our way from Diskit back to Leh over the Wari La, we saw a number of interesting animals -- both domestic and wild.

About 350 Bactrian (2-humped) camels live in the Nubra Valley, left over from the former Silk Road trade.

Yaks (pronounced "yuks" are common in the higher pastures. Most were all black, but about 20% had the white stripe from their forehead through their tail.

Marmots were quite common, but shy and difficult to get in a photo. We were surprised to see that they were golden brown rather than the darker ones I've seen in North America.

We came across a small herd of about 8 blue sheep ("bharal"). We were assured that where there is so many sheep, an elusive snow leopard can't be far away.

We also saw a large group of bearded vultures (also called lammergeiers) hopping around on a steep slope.

More of the vultures.

As we watched, one of the vultures took flight.

Lammergeiers are easy to identify in flight because of their unique tail shape.