Lahaul and Spiti General Info · Lahaul · Baralacha Range · Chandra Valley · Bhaga Valley · Keylong · Chandra-Bhaga Valley · Great Mountain Mass · Lingti Plains · Spiti · Climate · Kaza Pin Valley Other Places of Interest Passes · Baralacha Pass Rivers · Chandra River · Chandra - Bhaga · Spiti River Glaciers · Bara Shigri Glacier Lakes · Chandratal Lake · Suraj Tal Lake People · Lahaulas · Tradition & culture · Spiti Religion Fairs and Festivals History · Lahaul · Spiti Visual Delights | ||||
With large parts under permanent snow cover, the park is home to many of the larger mammals including the elusive Snow Leopard and the Ibex. The Ibex, capra ibex sibirica, is well adapted to the extreme environment, making it a fascinating, if extremely difficult to get at, study. A thick winter coat helps against the intense cold whereas the summer coat is a thinner dark brown. Ibex seem to cultivate danger, frolicking on the most hazardous of slopes with gay abandon, and to all indications, spend their winter on steep cliffs that are highly prone to avalanches. In fact, unlike other Himalayan animals the Ibex do not descend in the winter and remain at the sub- arctic regions above the summer snow line. No wonder, then, that it has been estimated that winter avalanches account for as much as 10% of the population over an average winter. The Pin Valley is also home to the Buzhen, wandering minstrel lamas who move from village to village enacting comedies, miracle plays and singing ballads. During the bleak and harsh Spitian winter, they make their colorful way through the monochromatic landscape entertaining the populations of far flung villages. |
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