Mongolia

As of 7th November 2020 Mongolia has had a low Covid 19 infection rate with 357 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.

Have you ever thought of bird and mammal watching in Mongolia?

Until recently Mongolia was probably best known for Chinggis (Genghis) Khan, whose Mongol hordes over ran much of modern day China, Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East, controlling a vast empire for some 400 years.  For much of the 20th century Mongolia was closely allied to Russia and had little to do with the rest of the world.  However, since 1990 this has all changed and the Mongolian People’s Republic is now a multiparty state with a freely elected coalition government. They are keen to encourage Mongolian national traditions and greater cultural and religious freedoms and to reintroduce the beautiful vertical Mongolian script rather than the imposed Cyrillic script of the Russian era!

It has also allowed Mongolia to open up to international tourism. Although this is still in its infant stage, it is beginning and Mongolia is one of our favourite countries to visit. It is a landlocked country bounded by Russia in the north and China to the south. It has vast open spaces, ¾ of the country is upland steppe with its huge expanses of grassland and coniferous forests. Nearly half of the population live as nomadic herders, with most of the rest in the capital of Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia offers its visitors spectacular scenery with the sand dunes of the Gobi, huge grassy semi-desert steppes, forested mountains with gorges and rushing rivers and large areas of lakes and wetlands.

Mongolia is a paradise for bird and mammal watchers. Lying on the border of several zoogeographic regions it has influences from each of them, with over 520 species of birds. While it has no endemics, over 30 species are globally threatened, and Mongolia is one of the best places to see them e. g. Saker Falcon. Some 140 species of mammal have been recorded in Mongolia of which 28 are regarded as endangered. While most of the mammals are small mammals like gerbils and jerboas, it is possible to see some larger ones including the successfully reintroduced Przewalski’s Horse, Snow Leopard, Argali, Ibex, Grey Wolf and Bactrian Camel.

It is an important stop off point on the Asia Pacific flyways and the best time of the year for birders to visit Mongolia is undoubtedly when the migrations are underway, which also luckily, coincides with the best weather! It is also an excellent place for raptors and we have a great Mongolian Raptor Tour available on which we would expect to see most if not all of the nation’s raptors.! Because of its small population and strict government restrictions on hunting some very rare mammals are being protected for future generations. Why not join us on a tour to look for and photograph the snow leopard or give something back on a Gobi mammal tour where you have a chance to help scientists document the mammals that are there?