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Mountain mammals

Marmots and the Himalayan brown bear live on the Deosai Plains.

A natural oasis on the Deosai Plains is marmot country. The young of the year emerge from their burrows to explore the world outside and take part in wrestling matches that are good practice for adult life. At the height of summer, the grass is alive with insects. For everything that lives here, this is a time to breed, feed and fatten. But the bounty will be short-lived. For more than half the year, this high plateau is deep in snow. Yellow-headed wagtails come here to take advantage of the brief profusion of insects. But it鈥檚 a race against time. They fledge their young before the snows return. Marmots have many enemies: not just snow leopards and birds of prey, but even bears who can dig marmots from their burrows. For now, the bears have easier ways of fattening up after the winter hibernation. The Deosai Plains are one of the last strongholds of the Himalayan brown bear. This mother bear is wary of a male foraging nearby. Apart from people, the only thing likely to threaten her cub is another bear.

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3 minutes

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