Bearded Vulture or Lammergeyer (Gypaetus barbatus), Eurasia's biggest raptor is traditionally regarded as sacred in Tibet, because they usually do not prey upon living animals. The name lammergeyer, is derived from the old German name "Lämmergeier" meaning lamb's vulture, which implies that these majestic bird kill lambs. However, conservationist switched over to "Bartgeier", bearded vulture, since these majestic birds are in general scavengers. Tibet has plenty of carcasses for them be it deceased livestock or human remains offered at sky burial sites. [More bearded vulture pictures below] © Daniel Winkler, December 2006, 5000m, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet AR
	Just below the bearded vulture was this herd of blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur ) known in Tibetan as Na or Nawa. Blue sheep still can be encountered in many locations on the Plateau if one is high enough in the mountains. Usually they stay close to a rocky area where they can escape predators. Often their lower grazing grounds are the alpine pastures of yaks. Wherever there are blue sheep there is a good likelihood that there is still a snow leopard population around. However, according to villagers, on this site the last snow leopard was encountered in the 1970s . © Daniel Winkler, December 2006, 5000m, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet AR
	Same herd © Daniel Winkler, December 2006, 5000m, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet AR A tamed blue sheep at Tsurpu Monastery, the seat of the Karmapas. © Daniel Winkler, September 1998, Tsurphu Monastery, Toelung Dechen County, Lhasa Municipality, Tibet AR
	Blue Sheep "Family" on Kongpo Bar La (Pinyin: Mi La) close to the Lhasa - Nyingchi Highway. © Daniel Winkler, June 2006, 4500m, Meldrogongkar County, Lhasa Municipality, Tibet AR
	Macaques photographed in Sertar along the Serchu River, Ganzi TAP, W-Sichuan. The species is probably Macaca mulatta and not Macaca thibetana, since Tibetan macaques have very short tails. Macaques live in forested areas in Eastern Tibet. © Daniel Winkler, August 2002, 3900m, Sertar County, Ganzi TAP, W-Sichuan
	A Tibetan sand fox (Vulpes ferrilata) encountered in the south of the Changtang. More on this fox species. Note how well the fox's fur picks up the coloring of the winter landscape. Foxes are of great help to keep the rodent population in check, especially Pikas (mouse-hare, (Ochotona spp.). The Tibetan sand fox is much bigger than the common fox, which is also present in Tibet, but in forest areas. The sand fox is specialized in making a living in open, arid landscapes of high altitude deserts and steppes. It is endemic to the Plateau. © Daniel Winkler, April 2004, 4500m, Tsochen / Cuoqin County, Shigatse Prefecture Tibet AR.
	Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) cleaning off a yak carcass. Vultures have traditionally not been killed by Tibetans, since they do not take lives themselves like raptors. © Daniel Winkler, April 2000, 4400m, Litang County, Ganzi TAP, W-Sichuan
	Probably, Thermophis baileyi (Wall.), the Tibetan Hot Spring Snake is the world record holder when it comes to snakes in high altitude. Thermophis baileyi is as most snakes in the Colubridae family non-venomous. It is endemic to Tibet AR, were it is only found in geothermic locations. This is Tibet's only high plateau snake species. Apparently, Thermophis managed to survive the recent rapid uplift, geologically speaking, of the Plateau by squatting hot spring locations. This photo is taken at Chutsen Chugang Hot Springs right in  Zhoto Terdrom / Tidro Nunnery, where nuns and snake coexist since many centuries.  (4400m, Maldrogongkar / Mozhugongka County, Lhasa, TAR). A population is also reported from Yangpachen/ Yangbajain Hot Springs. 4400m © Daniel Winkler June 1997, Maldrogongkar County, Tibet AR
	A captive herd of Kham Red Deer (Cervus elaphus mcneilii) in Riwoche's Chamoling Nature Reserve. Deer are kept for antler production. Antlers are commonly used as a materia medica in Traditional Chinese medicine, known as 'malujiao'. Preferred are antlers still in velvet, the phase in which it is still growing - antlers regrow each year. However, these males only have each one antler left, the other was injured by previous cutting and will not regrow anymore. Most deer farms were started in the collectivation period to generate income for local communities. However , these farms hardly can compete with farms in New Zealand or Canada that focus on meet production and antlers are a side product. EU deer farms are not exporting antlers since it is outlawed to cut antlers in velvet.  © Daniel Winkler, July 1997, 3900m, Riwoche County (Pinyin: Leiwuqi), Chamdo Prefecture, Tibet AR

On the left a musk deer (Moschus sifanicus?) photographed in the Beijing Zoo. Male musk deer are hunted intensely for their glands (on the right), which are a highly regarded ingredient in traditional medicines and also widely used in the perfume industry. These two 'fresh' glands were bought by a Litang man for Yuan 3000 ($ 365). He hoped to resell them for Y 5000 (over $600), more than the annual per capita income in many rural areas. Although, some hunters claim that they are able to attract only males in their snares, that seems to be more of wishful thinking than reality. Photos © Daniel Winkler: Left,  June 13, 1997, Beijing Zoo, right: Litang, Ganzi TAP, April 2001
Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is a common sight in Tibet. The one to the left is nesting right above the sacred cave of Mt. Trakaniri where it raised a chick with its partner in 1999. Although a lot of people stop by at this site the bearded vulture did not budge much. © Daniel Winkler November 1999, 4400m, Litang County, Ganzi TAP, W-Sichuan	This bird was not as lucky. I came across its carcass on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway on a pass in Chamdo. It looked like the vulture tried to pick up some road kill and joined its lunch date's fate. Although South Asia has lost over 95% of its vulture population from the mid 1990s onward, after eating cattle carcasses tainted with diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory painkiller given to sick cows, Tibetan vulture populations were not impacted. © Daniel Winkler August 1998, 4500m, Chamdo County, Tibet AR