Tibetan antelope (chiru) Pantholops hodgsonii
The chiru is the antelope of the Changtang, famous for its long migrations to calving grounds and for the fine underwool that nearly drove it to extinction.
About Tibet · Nature
Wildlife of Tibet
The Tibetan Plateau is home to animals and plants found nowhere else: the chiru of the Changtang, the wild yak, the black-necked crane, the snow lotus and the caterpillar fungus. Tibetan Buddhist respect for life protected them for centuries. Under the occupation they face poaching, fenced grasslands, poisoning campaigns, dams, mines, roads and the removal of the nomads who lived alongside them. Each profile gives the species' IUCN Red List status with the year it was assessed.
Headline species
Wild yak Bos mutus
The wild ancestor of the Tibetans' domestic yak, much larger and dark, now surviving in the remotest parts of the northern plateau.
Kiang (Tibetan wild ass) Equus kiang
The largest wild ass in the world, a chestnut and white animal often seen in herds on the open steppe.
Tibetan gazelle (goa) Procapra picticaudata
A small, grey-brown gazelle with a white, heart-shaped rump patch, found across the plateau.
Snow leopard Panthera uncia
The elusive great cat of the high mountains, honoured in Tibetan tradition and found on ranges across the plateau.
Tibetan sand fox Vulpes ferrilata
A small fox with a square-looking face, found almost only on the Tibetan Plateau.
Tibetan brown bear (Tibetan blue bear) Ursus arctos pruinosus
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A rarely seen brown bear of the plateau, known to Tibetans as the dremong.
Pallas's cat (manul) Otocolobus manul
A small, stocky wild cat with dense fur, adapted to cold, open country.
Black-necked crane Grus nigricollis
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The only crane that lives its whole life on high plateaus; it breeds in Tibet's wetlands and is honoured in Tibetan song and religion.
The index
Mammals
- Alpine musk deer Moschus chrysogaster
- Black snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus bieti
- Blue sheep (bharal) Pseudois nayaur
- Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx
- Giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca
- Golden snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus roxellana
- Himalayan marmot Marmota himalayana
- Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus
- Kiang (Tibetan wild ass) Equus kiang
- Pallas's cat (manul) Otocolobus manul
- Plateau pika Ochotona curzoniae
- Przewalski's gazelle Procapra przewalskii
- Red panda Ailurus fulgens
- Snow leopard Panthera uncia
- Takin Budorcas taxicolor
- Tibetan antelope (chiru) Pantholops hodgsonii
- Tibetan argali Ovis ammon
- Tibetan brown bear (Tibetan blue bear) Ursus arctos pruinosus
- Tibetan gazelle (goa) Procapra picticaudata
- Tibetan sand fox Vulpes ferrilata
- Tibetan wolf (Himalayan wolf) Canis lupus chanco
- White-lipped deer (Thorold's deer) Cervus albirostris
- Wild yak Bos mutus
- Woolly hare Lepus oiostolus
Birds
- Bar-headed goose Anser indicus
- Black-necked crane Grus nigricollis
- Brown-headed gull Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus
- Chinese monal Lophophorus lhuysii
- Golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos
- Great crested grebe Podiceps cristatus
- Ground tit Pseudopodoces humilis
- Himalayan vulture Gyps himalayensis
- Ibisbill Ibidorhyncha struthersii
- Lammergeier (bearded vulture) Gypaetus barbatus
- Ruddy shelduck Tadorna ferruginea
- Saker falcon Falco cherrug
- Snow partridge Lerwa lerwa
- Tibetan eared pheasant Crossoptilon harmani
- Tibetan lark Melanocorypha maxima
- Tibetan partridge Perdix hodgsoniae
- Tibetan sandgrouse Syrrhaptes tibetanus
- Tibetan snowcock Tetraogallus tibetanus
- Tibetan snowfinch Montifringilla henrici
- Upland buzzard Buteo hemilasius
- White eared pheasant Crossoptilon crossoptilon
Fish
- Glyptosternon maculatum Glyptosternon maculatum
- Oxygymnocypris stewartii Oxygymnocypris stewartii
- Ptychobarbus dipogon Ptychobarbus dipogon
- Tibetan stone loach Triplophysa stolickai
- Tso Ngonpo naked carp Gymnocypris przewalskii
- Walton's snowtrout Schizothorax waltoni
Reptiles
- Qinghai toad-headed agama Phrynocephalus vlangalii
- Theobald's toad-headed agama Phrynocephalus theobaldi
- Tibetan hot-spring snake Thermophis baileyi
Amphibians
- Alpine toad (Scutiger boulengeri) Scutiger boulengeri
- High Himalaya frog Nanorana parkeri
- Tibetan toad Bufo tibetanus
Invertebrates
- Bumblebees Bombus spp.
- Common red Apollo Parnassius epaphus
- Thitarodes ghost moths Thitarodes spp.