Mountain Mammals of the World M K Ranjitsinh Penguin (2024)

While reading Mountain Mammals of the World, my thoughts went to Assam’s Guwahati Zoo in 1997 and one of the most powerful interactions I have ever had with a mountain mammal. A tame Serow, a red goat antelope, tolerated my presence and allowed me to pet her, and the proximity made me realise why wild creatures do not belong in a zoo. It also instilled in me a very strong desire to work for the wellbeing of all wild animals in captivity.

Maharaj Kumar Ranjitsinh, the conservationist who drafted the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act of India, reveals similar enchantment with mountain mammals in his book of firsthand experiences and photographs. The foreword by George Schaller outlines the importance of conserving mountain mammals. An introductory message by the Dalai Lama calls readers to respect the other inhabitants of our planet.

The book features 58 mammal species weighing more than 20 kg — from the Tibetan lynx found in the Himalya and the Hindu Kush, to Ethiopian wolves of the Bale mountains, the Himalayan black bear of Dachigam National Park in Kashmir to the vicuna of the Andes in Peru. It features stories of Ranjitsinh’s interaction with a mountain gorilla in Rwanda, and adventures chasing a wild markhor goat on the Shamshabari mountain cliffs of Kashmir. There are accounts of human attempts to hunt snow leopards and ensuing conflicts in the animal’s foraging habitat.

The author acknowledges contention surrounding the taxonomic classification of mountain mammals, as researchers change grouping and splitting of species. He notes that DNA analysis for such classification has not been done in many cases, and so his own analysis primarily relies on the classification by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In a similar vein, some recent studies have critically examined whether maintaining genetic purity of animals is desirable or not.

Many people have never seen a mountain mammal, and never will. The book beckons everyone to explore the mountains of the world, where many of nature’s secrets remain to be explored. There is a growing tendency in India to keep mountain mammals in captivity, with species like goral and snow leopards being confined to zoos in the plains. Mountain Mammals of the World urges us to seek out such enchanting creatures.