Yes, It’s Possible to See Rare Snow Leopards in India’s Himalayan Mountains — Here’s What It Was Like Tracking the ‚Gray Ghost‘

„Get within the automobile, fast,” shouted our information, Tchewang Norbu, simply as his crew had begun establishing a tailgate picnic. He got here working down the hillside, a cloud of mud in his wake, and in lower than a minute our tools was loaded, sizzling tea reluctantly wasted, automobile doorways slammed. After which we have been hurtling downhill at breakneck pace.

That the street, or what passes for it, bordered a sheer cliff appeared immaterial. “Decelerate,” Norbu mentioned to the motive force as we approached a bend, past which the street disappeared. “Cease!” Leaping out, he ran ahead and educated his binoculars on a distant ridge. When he turned again to our automobile, his face was sporting a large grin.

For almost per week, we’d been monitoring the snow leopard in and across the village of Ulley, in western Ladakh, India’s northernmost province — certainly one of only a few accessible areas the place guests stand a good probability of recognizing this elusive and endangered huge cat. We’d trekked up slopes of unfastened shale following footprints, crouched in wait alongside grassy ridges, and braved winds that appeared significantly colder than the “looks like” studying on our climate apps. We had seen two varieties of untamed sheep, ibex, Himalayan wolves, a number of chook species, and a lone purple fox. However the snow leopard, recognized within the area because the “grey ghost,” had eluded us. Till now.

“Look over there,” Norbu mentioned, pointing to the highest of a hill almost half a mile away. “I don’t see something,” I replied. As if in response, a snow leopard revealed herself, stretching within the traditional “cat” yoga pose, shaking off the mud and chilly of the evening and basking within the heat of the morning solar. Even at a distance I may inform she was a magnificence. Her coat, which she was giving a great lick, was a grayish beige, her rosette markings darkish in opposition to the pale background. Her tail, which she flicked once in a while, was lengthy and thick.

Together with her have been three cubs, certainly one of which was making an attempt to play with its siblings; they refused to stir. The mom lowered her head, permitting her child to climb onto her again, then fall off. Out of the blue she stopped, sat up, and appeared straight in our course. Phrase of the sighting had unfold, and keen safari-goers and different residents of the Snow Leopard Lodge, the homestay Norbu owns, had arrived, leaving a cloud of mud behind them that may very well be seen for miles round. (February is true in the course of peak vacationer season, so firm was to be anticipated, although on this distant area, it hardly ever looks like a crowd.)

Nonetheless, all this human exercise appeared to have caught the mom’s consideration. We have been advised to settle down, lest she resolve to depart. Sitting on her haunches, she watched us. The “looks like -10 levels Celsius” wind discovered its method by means of my thermals as a flock of chukar partridges fluttered in a tree beneath. The wild sheep on the hillside above grazed unperturbed. Lastly, Woman Leopard determined we posed no hazard in spite of everything, and lay down for a sleep. We heaved a collective sigh of reduction.

“I advised you that you just wouldn’t depart with out seeing the shan,” Norbu mentioned with a smile, utilizing the Ladakhi phrase for snow leopard. I smiled again. Western Ladakh is usually barren, its mountains stark and shale-covered. Recognizing a snow leopard, or any animal for that matter, is like discovering the proverbial needle in a haystack. However Norbu, who has been guiding guests since 2004, is one thing of a legend in terms of monitoring these creatures. He’s a favourite of photographers, documentary filmmakers, and conservationists. “To me the shan is just like the Dalai Lama of wildlife,” he declared someday as we camped within the yard of the Snow Leopard Lodge, scanning the neighboring hill for indicators of the animal. “It’s probably the most highly effective creature right here. Don’t we all the time look as much as the highly effective?”

The connection between man and apex predator hasn’t all the time been this respectful. Norbu defined that, as a baby, he discovered to trace snow leopards from his grandfather and father, each formidable hunters who would search revenge when the cats killed their cattle. (Traditionally, snow leopards have been additionally killed for his or her pelts and physique elements, which have been utilized in conventional drugs.)

In Ladakh, conservation of the species bought a lift in 2002, when the Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust (SLC-IT), a much-lauded company that works within the Himalayan areas of Ladakh and Spiti, launched homestays in areas the place human-animal battle was a persistent drawback. “The homestays are the one most necessary contribution to conservation,” mentioned Dr. Tsewang Namgail, director of the SLC-IT. “Till they arrived, trekkers and safari-goers would principally camp outside. Usually, they would depart rubbish behind. Locals steered that if guests stayed with them it may generate income and scale back stress on the setting.”

In these days, only a few vacationer {dollars} have been discovering their method again into the economic system. The SLC-IT helped villagers arrange greater than 200 homestays, together with the Snow Leopard Lodge, throughout the western a part of Ladakh and has educated residents to grow to be trekking guides and naturalists. Norbu runs the lodge along with his household and different villagers. So, whereas the amenities are easy — old-school wood-fired heaters in all of the rooms and sizzling water that’s fetched in buckets — the service is heartfelt. It’s additionally simply the most effective the area has to supply.

Along with the homestays, Namgail tells me, village cafés that promote handmade souvenirs, in addition to a livestock insurance coverage program that covers predator assaults (each are promoted by the SLC-IT, however run by villagers themselves) have helped scale back human-animal battle much more. “For the reason that homestays began, revenge killings have fully stopped. Folks realized that there’s more cash to be made by defending the shan,” Norbu mentioned. Estimates recommend there are between 400 and 700 snow leopards dwelling throughout the Himalayas, although Namgail mentioned digital camera traps recommend a a lot increased quantity.

On my remaining day in Ulley, I spent greater than 4 hours watching the mom and her cubs sleep, play, and groom one another. I discovered snow-leopard trivia from Norbu: how, once they kill a big animal like a sheep, they’ll feed on it for per week, ranging from the outer limbs and dealing their solution to the internal organs, which slows down the decay of the carcass and avoids attracting scavengers.

Because the solar dipped behind the mountains, Norbu jogged my memory it was time to depart. It was a two-hour drive to the capital metropolis, Leh, and I had a aircraft to catch. I used to be tempted to spend extra time there, to benefit from this uncommon expertise. However once I peered by means of the scope to see what the playful cub was as much as, it wasn’t there. Neither was the mom. For now, a minimum of, the ghosts had slipped away.

andBeyond presents leopard-tracking Ladakh itineraries that embrace lodging at Snow Leopard Lodge.

A model of this story first appeared within the December 2022/January 2023 problem of  Journey + Leisure beneath the headline „Mountain Spirits.„