Perfectly camouflaged against the boulder-strewn streams in its high-altitude habitat, the ibisbill (Ibidorhyncha struthersii) has fascinated many nature enthusiasts and bird experts for centuries. It is known as the ‘wonder…
Domestic livestock differ from wild herbivores in their impacts on soil carbon, and ultimately on climate, a new study shows. And given the increasing use of veterinary antibiotics on domestic…
About four months ago, in September 2022, a state government report confirmed that Joshimath, a town in Uttarakhand, situated at an altitude of 1,875 metres, is sinking. Last week, a…
“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn,” says author Hal Borland. But it seems in 2022, spring forgot its annual appointment with northern India as a usually pleasant…
The first clear photographic record of two pheasant species in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district has brought in a mixed bag of emotions among birding enthusiasts and researchers. The Himalayan…
"Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, Grow, grow.” These words from the Talmud, a Jewish religious text, welcome the visitors at Dwarson, a…
Scientists are undivided on the need to conserve natural habitats to maintain biodiversity, but divided on which ones to prioritise: intact wild habitats, or fragmented, degraded lands that are becoming…
Summer-monsoonal snowfall plays an important role in maintaining glacier mass in the western Himalayas. If this snowfall is more frequent and strong in the years ahead, the health of glaciers…
India’s average temperature has already increased by around 0.7 degree Celsius during the 1901–2018 period due to greenhouse gas emissions and by the end of 2100 it is expected to…
Climate change is likely to force the white furred Himalayan langurs (Semnopithecus schistaceus) out of protected forest areas in the western Himalayas in India and Nepal, to forests that are…
From a bird’s eye view, this animal’s extensive presence in the snow-clad alpine and the subalpine Himalayas makes the landscape look like a crumpled white sheet punctuated with shaggy black…
High altitude regions in India, Nepal and Bhutan have the potential to become suitable habitats for the tiger, notes a new study which has found evidence of the endangered animal…
It is estimated that about nearly 200 million Indians, about 15 percent of the country’s population, depend upon spring water from the Himalayas, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Aravallis and other…
Himalayan wolf is a distinct species of wolf, which shows unique genetic adaptation to the difficult conditions in the Asian high altitude ecosystems, found a study, reiterating that it needs…
Millions of people living in the Himalayan region of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal may face a grim water future if the rapid and unplanned urbanisation taking place in the…
Women in the Himalayan countries are often dubbed as vulnerable victims of climate change as well as formidable champions of climate change adaptation but despite that “policies and responses” in…
The Hindu Kush Himalaya region that supports nearly 40 percent of the global population, directly or indirectly, is under severe stress with rising global temperatures. Even if the world manages…
India may not be a part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) but it could spell trouble for India’s biosecurity. A study that quantifies the current (already existing)…
Less than half of India is resilient to dry conditions and there is a significant reduction in water use efficiency in several districts across the country, new research shows. Out of…
Despite the high altitudes and harsh winters, the Himalayas are a global biodiversity hotspot, home to 10 percent of the world’s bird species. But expanding human populations in the Himalayas…