The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has been contributing substantially in the field of ‘high altitude ecology’ and in the conservation of mountain flora and fauna through research and training activities since 1986. WII’s faculty and researchers have carried out several surveys for endangered species, ecological studies on endangered species/faunal groups and their habitats, and has conducted training programmes related to research, monitoring and management of these species and habitats in the Himalaya. During the last 16 years, significant efforts have been made for the conservation of mountain ungulates of the Himalaya by researchers and managers from different institutions and organisations in collecting ecological information for planning better conservation strategies. Some of the recent initiatives by WII in the field of mountain ungulate research and conservation include the ‘Collaborative Ladakh Field Research Programme’ jointly carried out by WII, United States Fish & Wildlife Service, International Snow Leopard Trust; Snow Leopard Conservancy and the ‘Institutional Co-operation Programme between WII and University of Tromso, Norway, on Pastoralism and Wildlife Conservation in the Himalaya’.

In order to increase global awareness of the importance of mountains, the United Nations had declared the year 2002 as the ‘International Year of the Mountains’ (IYM) and to commemorate the IYM – 2002, we decided to bring out this issue which covers different aspects of the ecology and conservation of 15 mountain ungulate species that occur in the Himalayan and Trans-Himalayan regions of India. The different aspects include the species accounts, protected areas coverage, mountain ungulate conservation, conservation issues, veterans’ section and a bibliography. The Himalayan range states have contributed information on the status of the mountain ungulates. I hope this issue will be appreciated by all users and we welcome your feedback on the same.

Director, WII & Team Leader

ENVIS Centre, Wildlife Institute of India