Rare Mishmi takin herd spotted in Sikkim: All about the mysterious Himalayan mammal

A rare sighting of wildlife in Eastern Himalaya region has caught the attention of social media followers after a video uploaded by All India Radio News on X (formerly Twitter) has become viral. The video highlights the appearance of a pack of Mishmi takins, which is among the lesser-known large mammals in the region, spotted at the Bakuchaang location in Sikkim by staff members from the Tourism and Forest department of the state. According to Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, visual sightings of the animals in Sikkim are rare.As per the post on All India Radio News, a troop of takins was found in Bakuchaang by the staff of Tourism & Forest Departments of Sikkim. The footage of the rare animals is captured while they were seen roaming around in their natural habitat located in the Eastern Himalayas.Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav also took to Twitter to highlight the importance of the sightings. He pointed out that such visual sightings are not very common in the state of Sikkim.

Mishmi takin is a big, stout-bodied goat-antelope that lives mostly in the Eastern Himalayas, including some areas of India, China and Myanmar. Takins thrive in mountainous and difficult to reach places which makes observations and sightings quite rare occurrences.

Masters of the Eastern Himalayan Region

One of the mammals that have been known to reside in the roughest landscapes in the continent of Asia includes the Mishmi takin. According to a report by Highland Wildlife Park, the species can be found in parts of northeastern India, northern Myanmar, southern Tibet, and southwestern China. In India, the takin has its habitat in Arunachal Pradesh while it may sometimes appear in other regions of the Eastern Himalayas.The Mishmi takin is an animal that can survive in mountain forests, bamboo brakes, alpine grasslands, and rocks at more than 4,000 metres above sea level. Its large hooves and strong legs are adapted for surviving the hazardous environment. (Highland Wildlife Park⁠)Contrary to many other mammals in the mountains, which are solitary, the takin is a social animal. It usually travels in herds particularly during summer months, when there is plenty of vegetation at high altitudes. During winters, the animal descends to the lower parts of forests. (The Animal Map⁠)

Survival in the Himalayas is not easy, but the Mishmi takin has adapted to this climate through a few impressive evolutionary traits.The first one is the oily coat of this creature. The skin of the animal produces grease that covers its fur, forming an oily waterproof shield. It protects the Mishmi takin from getting wet from the rain, snow, and fog found in Eastern Himalayan forests.Another adaptation is their thick coat of fur that keeps them warm in freezing temperatures. Also, their strong body muscles help them retain heat when winters get extremely cold.

Although it is a rather large creature, the Mishmi takin is still not very well researched. According to a recently published scientific article via SSRN conducted by scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India, global warming would cause significant changes in the habitat of this animal. Namely, according to their calculations, by 2070, the amount of highly suitable habitat would decrease significantly in some of the climate scenarios.A study conducted and published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution also reported sightings of the Mishmi takin along with other important mammalian species living in the Eastern Himalayan forests. However, a camera trap study conducted by another researcher in Animals also pointed out that systematic studies on Mishmi takins have been quite restricted, making it hard for the researchers to determine population changes in the region.