In the eastern part of the cold desert of Ladakh includes the catchments of two valleys which drain into the River Indus. Hemis is a high altitude protected area that was created in the year 1981. It is named after the famous monastery -- Hemis, and sprawls over 600 sq km. Approachable by road from Leh, this national park contain several camping sites.
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The area is barren and rocky, covered only sparsely with vegetation. Most of the ten species of mammal are extremely rare -- shapu, bharal, great Tibetan sheep, ibex and snow leopard. The fauna too comprises species, which are not seen at lower altitudes: Himalayan snow cock being
an example.
The best season for watching the mammal is September to May and for birds March to May and September to December. |
