All journal Destination January 2026
Rare spotting: the red panda, the crane and the snow leopard
Bhutan is the only carbon-negative country on earth, and its forests hold species that have disappeared almost everywhere else. Where to look, and when.
More than seventy per cent of Bhutan is under forest cover, protected by constitution rather than by policy. The result is a country that absorbs more carbon than it produces, and a wildlife corridor running unbroken from the subtropical south to the glaciers of the north.
Red panda
Found in the temperate bamboo forests between 2,400 and 3,700 metres. Sightings are never guaranteed — that is rather the point — but the ridges above Bumthang and the Trumshing La area give the best odds, particularly in the early morning.
Black-necked crane
Around six hundred birds winter in Bhutan, most of them in the Phobjikha valley, arriving from the Tibetan plateau in late October and leaving in February. Their arrival is marked with a festival at Gangtey Monastery.
Takin
Bhutan’s national animal, and one of the strangest mammals in Asia — part goat, part antelope, per legend assembled from a cow and a goat by a visiting saint. Reliably seen at the Motithang preserve above Thimphu.
Snow leopard
The great improbability. Jigme Dorji National Park holds a healthy population above 4,000 metres, and camera-trap surveys have recorded them repeatedly. Seeing one requires a dedicated high-altitude trek, patience, and luck.
