Gazella Scape
<p><strong><span style="font-size:18px;">Text by Prachi Galange</span></strong></p>
<p><em>From mighty snow-clad mountains to sand-strewn coasts, from moist water-laden rainforests to shifting dunes, India is blessed with an incredible variety of biomes. Within a few hours one can traverse from frigid, biting air to sweltering heat and explore diverse ecosystems on land and in the sea. On these pages, we showcase two desert landscapes from India. Despite similarities – harsh weather conditions, daily fluctuation in temperature range, arid treeless landscapes and iconic, highly adapted wildlife – the two biomes are polar opposites. The high, cold desert plateau of Ladakh with its blistering winds and low oxygen levels gives rise to incredibly resilient wildlife adapted to the harsh high altitude. </em></p>
<p>Twilight silhouettes a chinkara mother and fawn in the Desert National Park, Rajasthan. Called the Indian gazelle, <em>Gazella bennettii</em> is highly adapted to desert life, and can go without water for days, subsisting on the moisture obtained from plants.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size:12px;">Photo: Yogendra Kurghode/Sanctuary Photolibrary.</span></strong></p>
