The diverse habits of Mongolia—including deserts, steppes, mountains and taiga forests—and lack of humans translates to a wide variety of animal life,
including 136 species of mammal, more than 400 species of birds, 76 species of fish, 8 types amphibians and 22 reptiles. Animals found in Mongolia include endangered Mongolian argali sheep, ibex, snow leopards, wolves, and herds of gazelles that can run fast 45mph. Animals encountered on the steppe include wolves, rabbits and antelope.
Among the 28 endangered species of mammal in Mongolia are the argali sheep, ibex, snow leopards and wild ass. The Gobi bear is extremely endangered. Only a few dozen are left. The Pallas cat, a yellowish wildcat about the size of a large house cat, is one of the rarest feline species.
Studies have show that populations of some wild animals has declined markedly since the collapse of the Soviet Union. By some estimated the populations of endangered species—argali sheep, bears, Asiatic wild asses—have dropped by 50 to 90 percent. The Mongolian Constitution states that wildlife is a common resource of all the people. Even so little effort has been to regulate and control hunting and the trade of wild animal furs, hides and body parts.
Mongolia's forests and steppes abounded with animals that were hunted for their fur, meat, and other products in the late 1980s. Fur-bearing animals included marmots, muskrats, squirrels, foxes, korsak (steppe foxes), and wolves, which were hunted, and such animals as deer, sable, and ermine, which were raised on state animal farms. Animal pelts were exported in large numbers. In 1985 Mongolia exported more than 1 million small hides, which included some of the 763,400 marmot pelts, 23,800 squirrel skins, 3,700 wolf skins, and other furs. Marmot also was hunted for its fat, which was processed industrially. Mongolian gazelles were hunted for their meat, and red deer, for their antler velvet. Organized hunting of wild sheep was a foreign tourist attraction. [Source: Library of Congress, June 1989 *]
Book: Mongolia’s Wild Heritage (1999) by Christopher Finch.
