On the morning of June 14, 2014, we
were heading to the western end of Gyau khola valley of Limi Village
Development Committee (VDC), in the trans-Himalayas of upper Humla. Limi is the
remotest VDC of Humla, the remotest district in Nepal. Herds of Tibetan wild
ass/Kiang had already sparked fascination in us. At times, young Himalayan
marmots, plateau pikas and woolly hares would show up, screwing up the
fascination. Three days ago, we had set a permanent camp at Gyau khola
(4827 m) for our two months research on wolves. To reach here, we had walked
for 11 days from Simikot, the district headquarter of Humla.
The team was led by Ms. Geraldine
Werhahn (Swiss biologist studying wolves in Nepal). Kunjok Rangdol Tamang from
Halji village of Limi VDC was our local field guide; Binod Kunwar, M.Sc.
student at Central Department of Zoology, Tribhuwan University, was collecting
scat samples of wolves for diet analysis and I was assisting Geri (the name by
which we called Geraldine) in collecting fecal DNA samples, in the position of
a wildlife researcher from Friends of Nature (FON) Nepal. Pema Rikjin Tamang,
our cook from Bargaun VDC was left to take care of our camp.
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| Our camp in Gyau khola (4827 m asl) |
Around 11: 30, well into the day's
hike, Rangdol dai called me in an excited voice while we were engrossed
in our respective works. As I approached him he pointed ahead and told me, 'Sir,
there are two Dongs (the Tibetan name for wild yak)!' All of us directed
our binoculars to the place; two yaks were grazing there. But we could not make
sure whether they were really wild yaks or domestic yaks since we were very far
from them. 'You know, this is the same location where our team led by Raju dai
(Raju Acharya, executive director, FON Nepal) together with Yadav Ghimirey
(theme leader, wildlife research and conservation, FON Nepal), Bidhan Adhikary
(wildlife conservation officer, FON Nepal), myself (Geraldine Werhahn) and
Pasang Dorje Tamang (Local field guide, Halji) had documented fresh hoof marks
and dung piles of wild yak last year.' said Geri. In 2013, the team of FON
Nepal had also gathered other indirect evidences of wild yak including head of
a dead yak, horns and skin, but no direct sighting was made at that time.
We had grown very excited and approached
silently but quickly towards the animals. But they disappeared after a while.
'Are we dreaming?' everyone must have felt at that moment. At 12:15, we came face
to face with a big herd of kiangs. I took out the tripod stand from my bag,
adjusted my camera on it and started to take a video. The rest of the team kept
moving towards where the wild yaks had disappeared. All of sudden, the same
animals appeared from the back of a big stone and ran away along the side of Gyau
khola, putting distance between us and them. Geri however had managed to
click some photographs at the first instance of sighting them and she also took
some video footage of the two dongs. By the time I managed to catch up
with the team, the animals had fled very far. I took some photographs from
where I stood. Geri showed me the photographs she had clicked; there were a few
good shots. 'I am finding it difficult to realize that these magnificent
animals had just run away from so close,' having said this Geri jumped with
ecstasy and sat down on the ground. She then kissed the earth. Every one of us
was left dumbfounded, no words would be able to describe that moment!
Bigger in size than domestic yaks,
the wild yaks had bigger and handle-bar shaped horns. Thick black hairs hung
from the shoulder down almost to their feet and the tails were bushy with long thick
hairs. The muzzle was whitish-grey in color. Why did such fearsome animals run
away instead of attacking us? I felt it strange. Human hunting pressure must
have largely influenced this extremely shy behavior in the wild yaks.
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| Wild yak |
I asked Geri to inform Raju dai
about the finding through her satellite phone. 'Raju, we have just seen two
wild yaks at the same place where we had come searching for them last year.
This time, we have gathered robust proofs in the form of photographs and video
footage,' said Geri on phone and gave it to me. 'Hey brother, congratulations
to the entire team. Finally, we have proven it!' came the voice of Raju dai.
Geri had clicked some good
photographs of the wild yaks at an elevation of 4980 m. But I was craving for
even closer shots. We left our bags with Binod and Rangdol dai and took
a route which would prevent the wild yaks from seeing us.
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| Gyau khola valley |
We took off our shoes
and tied them together by the laces in order to hang the shoes around our
necks. We tightly hold each others' hand to make sure that we do not get
carried away by the current of Gyau khola and crossed it.
After 30 minutes, we came to a point from where we could see the wild yaks
again. By the time we had taken our cameras at hand, the wild yaks saw us again
and they resumed their escape, further uphill. This time, they did not stop
until they had completely ascended to the snow covered ridge top and
disappeared to the other side. Geri and I just followed them with our gazes to
the content of our hearts.
It was indeed a rare day in my life!
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| Our team (from left: Binod Kunwar, Geraldine Werhahn, Kunjok Rangdol Tamang and Naresh Kusi) |
