The red panda, also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle and a ringed tail. Its head-to-body length is 51–63.5 cm (20.1–25.0 in) with a 28–48.5 cm (11.0–19.1 in) tail, and it weighs between 3.2 and 15 kg. It is well adapted to climbing due to its flexible joints and curved semi-retractile claws.
Moschidae is a family of pecoran even-toed ungulates, containing the musk deer (Moschus) and its extinct relatives. They are characterized by long 'saber teeth' instead of horns, antlers or ossicones, modest size and a lack of facial glands. While various Oligocene and Miocene pecorans were previously assigned to this family, recent studies find that most should be assigned to their own clades, although further research would need to confirm these traits. As a result, Micromeryx, Hispanomeryx, and Moschus are the only undisputed moschid members, making them known from at least 18 Ma. The group was abundant across Eurasia and North America during the Miocene, but afterwards declined to only the extant genus Moschus by the early Pleistocene.
Musk deer can refer to any one, or all seven, of the species that make up Moschus, the only extant genus of the family Moschidae. Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, but rather their family is closely related to Bovidae, the group that contains antelopes, bovines, sheep, and goats. The musk deer family differs from cervids, or true deer, by lacking antlers and preorbital glands also, possessing only a single pair of teats, a gallbladder, a caudal gland, a pair of canine tusks and—of particular economic importance to humans—a musk gland.
The Siberian musk deer is a musk deer found in the mountain forests of Northeast Asia. It is most common in the taiga of southern Siberia, but is also found in parts of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Manchuria and the Korean peninsula.
The Kashmir stag, also called hangul, is a subspecies of Central Asian red deer endemic to Kashmir and surrounding areas. It is found in dense riverine forests in the valleys and mountains of Jammu and Kashmir and northern Himachal Pradesh. In Kashmir, it is found primarily in the Dachigam National Park and in Tral Wildlife Sanctuary where it receives protection, and elsewhere it is more at risk. In the 1940s, the population was between 3000 and 5000 individuals, but since then habitat destruction, over-grazing by domestic livestock and poaching have reduced population dramatically. Its population is now grown marginally to 289 in 2023 from 197 in 2004. It is the state animal of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the only surviving Asiatic sub-species of the Red deer family.
The white-bellied musk deer or Himalayan musk deer is a musk deer species occurring in the Himalayas of Nepal, Bhutan, India, Pakistan and China. It is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List because of overexploitation resulting in a probable serious population decline.
The dwarf musk deer or Chinese forest musk deer is an artiodactyl native to southern and central China and northernmost Vietnam. The species name is after the collector Mikhail Mikhailovich Berezovsky. On June 14, 1976, China entered the dwarf musk deer onto its endangered species list. Four subspecies are recognized:
The Himalayan wolf is a canine of debated taxonomy. It is distinguished by its genetic markers, with mitochondrial DNA indicating that it is genetically basal to the Holarctic grey wolf, genetically the same wolf as the Tibetan and Mongolian wolf, and has an association with the African wolf. No striking morphological differences are seen between the wolves from the Himalayas and those from Tibet. The Himalayan wolf lineage can be found living in Ladakh in the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of Central Asia predominantly above 4,000 m (13,000 ft) in elevation because it has adapted to a low-oxygen environment, compared with other wolves that are found only at lower elevations.
The mountain scops owl, sometimes referred to as the spotted scops owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is locally common in its main habitat which covers some parts of Asia, including Bangladesh Bhutan, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Taiwan, and Thailand. It is an altitudinal migrant. It has a short high-pitched call. Their call sounds like a two-note whistle, "plew-plew" or "he-he", although the female's songs are rarely heard. Their calls can also vary between different populations allowing one to determine a bird's origin.
The Siberian ibex, also known using regionalized names including Altai ibex,Asian ibex, Central Asian ibex, Gobi ibex, Himalayan ibex, Mongolian ibex or Tian Shan ibex, is a polytypic species of ibex, a wild relative of goats and sheep. It lives in Central Asia, and is, by far, the most widely-distributed species in the genus Capra. In terms of population stability, Siberian ibex are currently ranked as Near Threatened, mostly due to over-hunting, low densities and overall decline; still, reliable data is minimal and difficult to come by, in addition to the animals’ expansive natural range, so accurate observations are still scant. The Siberian ibex has, formerly, been treated as a subspecies of the Eurasian Alpine ibex, and whether or not it is a single species or a complex of distinct units that stand out as genetically-distinct is still not entirely clear. The Siberian ibex is the longest and heaviest member of the genus Capra, though its shoulder height is slightly surpassed by the markhor.
The black musk deer or dusky musk deer is a species of even-toed ungulate in the family Moschidae. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.
The wildlife of Pakistan comprises a diverse flora and fauna in a wide range of habitats from sea level to high elevation areas in the mountains, including 195 mammal, 668 bird species and more than 5000 species of Invertebrates. This diverse composition of the country's fauna is associated with its location in the transitional zone between two major zoogeographical regions, the Palearctic, and the Oriental. The northern regions of Pakistan, which include Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan include portions of two biodiversity hotspot, Mountains of Central Asia and Himalayas.
The Alpine musk deer is a musk deer species native to the eastern Himalayas in Nepal, Bhutan and India to the highlands of Tibet.
Kedarnath Wild Life Sanctuary, also called the Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary, is a wildlife sanctuary declared under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and located in Uttarakhand, India. Its alternate name comes from its primary purpose of protecting the endangered Himalayan musk deer. Consisting of an area of 975 km2 (376 sq mi), it is the largest protected area in the western Himalayas.It is famous for alpine musk deer, Himalayan Thar, Himalayan Griffon, Himalayan Black bear, Snow Leopard and other flora park and fauna. It is internationally important for the diversity of its flora and fauna.
Deer musk is a substance with a persistent odor, obtained from the caudal glands of the male musk deer.
The Anhui musk deer is an endangered species of musk deer that is endemic to the Dabie Mountains of western Anhui province, China. It was formerly described as a subspecies of Moschus berezovskii and Moschus moschiferus, but is now classified as a separate species.
The Turkestan lynx is a subspecies of Eurasian lynx native to Central Asia. It is also known as Central Asian lynx, Tibetan lynx or Himalayan lynx. It is widespread from Central Asia, continental South Asia to China and Mongolia. About 27,000 mature individuals have been estimated to occur in China as of 2013.
The Afghan Mountains semi-desert ecoregion covers three disconnected interior valleys in the north of the mountains of Afghanistan. These valleys are arid, and covered mostly in thorny shrubs. Overgrazing by livestock has put pressure on the grasses and the wild animals dependent on them.
The Overa-Aru Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Aru Valley, Pahalgam near Anantnag city in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies 46 km from Anantnag city, the district headquarter. It is on the periphery of the two villages of Overa and Aru. The sanctuary spreads over 511 square kilometres (197 sq mi), lies 76 kilometres (47 mi) east of Srinagar. It was declared a game reserve in 1945 under the Dogra Rule and later upgraded to a sanctuary in 1981.
The Gurez National Park, also known as Musk Deer National Park, is one of the protected areas of Pakistan. It is located in Neelum District in Azad kashmir, Pakistan, besides the Neelum River in the Gurez valley. It is located in the high Himalayas and Pir Panjal Range. It is a thirty-five minute drive from Gurez tehsil. It is also known as Gurez valley national park.
