Mongolia is home to a number of rare species such as
- the snow leopard,
- wild sheep or Argali,
- Siberian musk deer,
- Snowcock,
- Cinereous vulture,
- Lammergeyer and more.
Argali sheep
You may have heard about wild goats like the Siberian Ibex or Markhour. The Argali is a wild sheep. Goats are browsers and they eat shrubs, twigs, leaves, and vines while sheep are grazers and they prefer eating grass. The Argali sheep are the largest species of wild goat. It is a threatened species and one of the largest populations is found in Mongolia, in the Altai mountains region.
Argali Sheep
Siberian Musk deer
The endangered Siberian musk deer is also found in Mongolia. They are mainly nocturnal and found in altitudes over 2600 mt. The adults are small, weighing just 17 kg at the max. The Siberian musk deer is a highly threatened species.
It is hunted for its musk glands, which can cost upwards of $45000 per kg. One adult musk deer can give only a few gm of musk. It is possible to remove the musk glands without killing the animal, yet sadly it is not done most of the time.
Baby deer
Cinereous vulture
The Cinereous vulture is the largest species of vulture in the old world (Europe, Asia, and Africa). It is a high altitude vulture and has abundant feathering, unlike other vultures. It is also called the black vulture or monk vulture. The bird mainly feeds on carrion but has been observed to take live prey on occasion. It is also known to feed on tortoises by dropping them from a height.
Cinereous vultures are quite intelligent and can be raised in captivity.
Cinereous vulture
Lammergeyer
The Lammergeyer or the bearded vulture (because of the tuft of feather under the beak) has one of the largest wingspans of all birds. It is also the only bird known to prefer bone to flesh. It prefers eating bone marrow. Many times, it even swallows bones, which dissolve quite easily in its digestive system. If the bone is too large to swallow, the bird will carry the bone to a height and drop it on the rocks so that the bone marrow is exposed.
Lammergeyer
Tarbagan Marmot
The Tarbagan Marmot is an endangered species of rodents, found in Mongolia around the Altai mountains region. The Tarbagan marmot is eaten in Mongolia and is called boodog, though it is not hunted as much now because of its low numbers. Mongolia has a number of national parks such as the Altai Tavan Bogd National Park where many of these animals are found.
