Deosai National Park

At an average elevation of 4,114 meters, Deosai is second only to Tibet’s Changtang Plateau among the world’s highest plateaus. Stretching across 3,000 square kilometers between the Skardu and Astore districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, this vast alpine expanse sits at the convergence of the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush mountain ranges—a geological crossroads found nowhere else on Earth that creates one of the planet’s most extraordinary high-altitude ecosystems. The Balti people call it ‘Ghbiarsa,’ meaning ‘summer’s place,’ because for eight months each year the plateau lies buried beneath meters of snow, completely inaccessible to the outside world. Colonel Algernon Durand of the British Army crossed Deosai in 1899 and described it as ‘a most desolate scene’ of bare plains stretching for miles.

When summer arrives in June, Deosai undergoes one of nature’s most dramatic transformations. The snow retreats to reveal rolling grasslands that stretch to every horizon, punctuated by crystal-clear streams, marshlands, and lakes fed by glacial meltwater from surrounding peaks that rise above 5,000 meters. The plateau’s unique position—facing the monsoon-affected outer Himalayas—gives it higher rainfall than the arid valleys of Baltistan below, nurturing an explosion of wildflowers that carpets the land in vivid color from late June through August. UNESCO has placed Deosai on its World Heritage tentative list, recognizing its outstanding universal value as one of the planet’s highest freshwater wetland ecosystems and a critical corridor for high-altitude biodiversity.

Deosai National Park was formally established on May 14, 1993, by the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan for one primary purpose: to save the Himalayan brown bear from extinction in Pakistan. When the park was declared under the Northern Areas Wildlife Preservation Act of 1975, researchers found just 19 bears clinging to survival on the plateau—the last viable population in the country. Poaching for pelts and traditional medicine, combined with habitat loss from overgrazing by livestock, had pushed this ancient lineage to the brink. The Himalayan brown bear represents one of Earth’s oldest bear lineages, having diverged from all other brown bears and polar bears some 658,000 years ago during a glaciation event that isolated them in their mountain refuge.

Three decades of dedicated conservation have achieved remarkable results. The bear population has grown from those 19 survivors to over 75 individuals today—a recovery made possible by community partnerships, strict anti-poaching patrols, regulated grazing agreements with local herders, and the establishment of buffer zones around critical habitat. Unlike brown bears elsewhere that shelter in dense forests, Deosai’s bears inhabit open alpine grasslands above the treeline, making them unusually visible to patient observers during summer months. They emerge from hibernation in April or May, spending the warm season foraging on wild rhubarb, roots, and golden marmots—their primary protein source—before returning to dens around October as snow reclaims the plateau.

While the brown bear draws visitors to Deosai, the plateau supports an entire community of high-altitude specialists adapted to life above 4,000 meters. Golden marmots—large, sociable rodents related to groundhogs—create extensive burrow colonies across the grasslands, their piercing whistling alarm calls echoing across the plateau whenever predators approach. The bears themselves rely heavily on marmots for protein, and watching a bear dig determinedly into a marmot colony while the residents scatter is one of Deosai’s most compelling wildlife spectacles. Tibetan wolves patrol the plateau in small packs, hunting marmots and occasionally taking livestock from herders along the park boundaries—encounters that remain an ongoing source of human-wildlife conflict requiring careful management.

Deosai lies within BirdLife International’s Western Himalaya Endemic Bird Area, hosting over 100 species of resident and migratory birds across its vast grasslands and wetland systems. Golden eagles soar overhead scanning for prey, while lammergeier vultures—the bearded vultures of legend—circle on thermals searching for bones to crack on the rocks below, a feeding behavior unique among raptors. Snow trout grow to remarkable sizes in the plateau’s cold, oxygen-rich streams, particularly in Bara Pani, the ‘Big Water’ that serves as Deosai’s largest river and most popular fishing destination. And somewhere in the remote ranges surrounding the plateau, snow leopards hunt ibex on the high ridges, though confirmed sightings within the park remain exceptionally rare.