The high altitude wildlife areas of western Arunachal Pradesh

Conservation status
Table 4. (cont’d)
SPECIES
SCIENTIFIC NAME
IUCN RED LIST
STATUS
PAKHUI
NAMDAPHA
PROPOSED
RESERVE
Red goral Nemorhaedus baileyi Vulnerable . + +
Bharal Pseudois nayaur . . +
Chinese goral Nemorhaedus caudatus Vulnerable . . +
Himalayan goral Nemorhaedus goral . . +
Himalayan marmot Marmota himalayana . . +
Large eared pika Ochotona macrotis . . +
Moupin's pika Ochotona thibetana . . +
Musk deer Moschus chrysogaster . . +
Pale weasel Mustela altaica . . +
Red panda Ailurus fulgens Endangered . . +
Snow leopard Uncia uncia Endangered . . +
Takin Budorcas taxicolor Vulnerable . . +
Tawang macaque Macaca sp. . . +
Total species 33 37 27
Species of global importance 10 14 10
Significant resources and manpower need to be made available to the forest
department with a clear mandate of wildlife conservation and implementation of
wildlife laws. Presently, in our survey sites, the forest department has a very small
presence, with wildlife conservation issues taking a back-seat. The forest department
also needs to devise means of regulating timber felling, medicinal plant collection, and
the continued cutting and burning of forests.
Proposed wildlife reserve
The contiguous areas of the Mago Chu Valley and the high altitudes of West Kameng
District together harbour the richest mammalian assemblage among our survey sites,
and the most extensive high altitude wildlife habitat (Tables 2, 3). Species richness in
this area is only marginally lower when compared with the two important wildlife
reserves of Arunachal; the low elevation Pakke Tiger Reserve, and the low to mid
elevation Namdapha Tiger Reserve (Table 4). In terms of mammalian species of global
conservation importance, the region is as rich as Pakke. Establishment of a wildlife
reserve in the Mago Chu Valley and adjoining high altitude areas of West Kameng
will afford protection to the entire high altitude mammalian fauna of western
Arunachal, including 10 species of global conservation importance. This would also
make the area the only existing wildlife reserve in the world to harbour all three
species of goral, and the only wildlife reserve in Arunachal affording protection to
high altitude species such as the snow leopard, the Chinese goral, and the Himalayan
marmot.
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