The Tso Kar or Tsho kar is a fluctuating

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...

known for its size and depth situated in the

Rupshu Rupshu is a high elevation plateau and valley and an eponymous Community development block in India, community development block in southeast Ladakh. Description Frederic Drew describes the Rupshu valley as follows: Drew states that the valle ...

Plateau and valley in the southern part of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is also recognised as India's 42nd

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

The Tso Kar is connected by an inlet stream at its south-west end to a small lake, Startsapuk Tso, and together they form the 9 km² More plains

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

, which is dominated by the peaks of two mountains, Thugje (6050 m) and Gursan (6370 m). From the geology of the More Plains, it can be concluded that the Tso Kar in historical times ranged up to this high valley. Until a few years ago the lake was an important source of salt, which the

Changpa The Changpa or Champa (Changthang: ཆངཔ) are a semi-nomadic Tibetan people found mainly in the Changtang in Ladakh, India. A smaller number resides in the western regions of the Tibet Autonomous Region and were partially relocated for ...

nomads used to export to

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. The nomadic settlement of Thugje is located 3 km in the north. There is a tented camp on the west bank of the lake which provides accommodation for tourists. Due to the high altitude, the climate is extreme in the winter; temperatures below -40 °C (-40 °F) are not uncommon. In the summer the temperature rises above 30 °C (86 °F), with extreme fluctuations during the day. Precipitation in the form of either rain or snow is extremely rare.

Flora and fauna

The inlets of the Tso Kar are a source of non-saline water; pondweeds and basic nettles grow there, forming floating islands of vegetation in the spring and dying off in the winter.

Sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...

and large numbers of

buttercup ''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about almost 1700 to more than 1800 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots. The genus is distributed in Europe, ...

s grow on the shores of Startsapuk Tso and of the tributaries of the Tso Kar, while some parts of the high basin are marked by

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

vegetation interspersed with

tragacanth Tragacanth is a natural gum obtained from the dried sap of several species of Middle Eastern legumes of the genus ''Astragalus'', including '' A. adscendens'', '' A. gummifer'', '' A. brachycalyx'', and '' A. tragacantha''. Some of these species ...

and pea bushes. The shore of Tso Kar is partly covered with a salt crust, which keeps vegetation away from the inflows. Due to the salinity of the Tso Kar, most of the resident fauna is found in its tributaries and in Startsapuk Tso. There are large breeding colonies of

grebe Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order Podicipediformes . Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in marine habitats during migration and winter. Some flightless species exist as well, most notably ...

s and

brown-headed gull The brown-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus'') is a small gull which breeds in the high plateaus of central Asia from Tajikistan to Ordos in Inner Mongolia. It is migratory, wintering on the coasts and large inland lakes of the India ...

s, and some bar-headed geese,

ruddy shelduck The ruddy shelduck (''Tadorna ferruginea''), known in India as the Brahminy duck, is a member of the family Anatidae. It is a distinctive waterfowl, in length with a wingspan of . It has orange-brown body plumage with a paler head, while the ...

s and

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...

s. In the vicinity of the lake

black-necked crane The black-necked Crane (''Grus nigricollis'') is a medium-sized crane in Asia that breeds on the Tibetan Plateau and remote parts of India and Bhutan. It is 139 cm (55 in) long with a 235 cm (7.8 ft) wingspan, and it weighs ...

s and Tibetan grouse are relatively common. The basin of the Tso Kar and the adjoining More Plains constitute one of the most important habitats of the

kiang The kiang (''Equus kiang'') is the largest of the ''Asinus'' subgenus. It is native to the Tibetan Plateau, where it inhabits montane and alpine grasslands. Its current range is restricted to the plains of the Tibetan plateau; Ladakh; and north ...

Tibetan gazelle The goa (''Procapra picticaudata''), also known as the Tibetan gazelle, is a species of antelope that inhabits the Tibetan plateau. Description The goa is a relatively small antelope, with slender and graceful bodies. Both males and females sta ...

s, Tibetan wolves and

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

es; there are

himalayan marmot The Himalayan marmot (''Marmota himalayana'') is a marmot species that inhabits alpine grasslands throughout the Himalayas and on the Tibetan Plateau. It is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern because of its wide range and possibly large population. ...

s in the higher reaches.

Yak The domestic yak (''Bos grunniens''), also known as the Tartary ox, grunting ox or hairy cattle, is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found throughout the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, the Tibetan Plateau, Kachin Sta ...

s and

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s are kept by nomads. Currently the lake basin has no special protection, but there are plans to include it within a national park which may be established in the highlands of south-eastern Ladakh.

Access

The Tso Kar lies 160 km south of

Leh Leh () ( lbj, ) is the joint capital and largest city of Ladakh, a union territory of India. Leh, located in the Leh district, was also the historical capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh, the seat of which was in the Leh Palace, the former res ...

; the Leh Manali road passes 30 km west of it. The lake is 540 km east of

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir union territory. Accessed from two different routes: Through Leh-Manali route or Pangong Lake route. You can get neighborhood taxis from Leh to reach Tso Kar Lake through the

Changtang The Changtang (alternatively spelled Changthang or Qangtang) is a part of the high altitude Tibetan Plateau in western and northern Tibet extending into the southern edges of Xinjiang as well as southeastern Ladakh, India, with vast highlands and g ...

locale covering absolute distance of 250 kilometers from Leh.

References

External links

Site of the Tourism information of the State of Jammu and Kashmir

Literature

*'' Kashmir Ladakh Manali – The Essential Guide'' Partha S. Banerjee, Kolkata: Milestone Books 2010, {{Ramsar sites in India Lakes of Ladakh Geography of Ladakh Saline lakes of Asia Ramsar sites in India

Flora and fauna

Access

See also

References

External links

Literature