IN035
Lippa Asrang Wildlife Sanctuary


Site description (2004 baseline):

Site location and context
This high altitude Sanctuary lies c. 28 km from Morang, the nearest town, in Kinnaur district. The Sanctuary can be reached by a motorable road up to a village called Jangi and then onward by foot. Much of this high altitude Sanctuary is a plateau of barren cold desert. Lippa Asrang is one of the few sanctuaries in India where feral Yak Bos grunniens have been reported.

Key biodiversity

AVIFAUNA: There is practically no literature on birds of this IBA. Most of the Sanctuary is closed to tourists, and there are few visitors. As the Sanctuary represents undisturbed alpine habitat, many birds of Biome-5 are present, hence it was selected as an IBA.

OTHER KEY FAUNA: Mammals reportedly include the Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus, Brown Bear Ursus arctos, Musk Deer Moschus chrysogaster, Goral Nemorhaedus goral, Ibex Capra sibirica, Blue Sheep Pseudois nayaur and Yak Bos grunniens (Singh et al. 1990).

Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
MAIN THREATS: Grazing.

This Sanctuary is away from human habitations and has very few visitors in its barren, cold desert plateau habitat. Grazing of livestock takes place, which is unsustainable due to the fragile ecosystem. Otherwise, little can be said without data regarding conservation issues.

Acknowledgements
Key contributor: Sanjeeva Pandey.


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lippa Asrang Wildlife Sanctuary (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lippa-asrang-wildlife-sanctuary-iba-india on 06/12/2024.