While beautiful, the ptarmigan is known more for its toughness and ability to thrive in harsh alpine conditions, even breeding in the winter. Why are these birds so hardy? The ptarmigan is a product of the Pleistocene ice age, evolving and thriving in harsh conditions and cold blanketing most of Europe for millennia. As the ice receded, the ptarmigan found their terrain reduced to the high reaches of the Alps and Pyrenees. The unprecedented melting of the glaciers in these mountain ranges threatens their survival. Current research suggests that the ptarmigan could lose 50% of their habitat by 2050 and more than 90% by 2090. In addition to the effect of climate change, human disturbance in its habitat is costly, especially as it damages vegetation on which ptarmigan rely for survival.
Together, Natural Habitat Adventures and World Wildlife Fund have teamed up to arrange nearly 100 nature travel experiences around the planet, while helping to protect the magnificent places we visit and their wild inhabitants.
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