Wildlife Photography Hides in Bhutan

Bhutan is one of the world's most extraordinary wildlife photography destinations — a country that has enshrined Gross National Happiness over GDP and protects 51% of its land area as forest, making it the only carbon-negative country on Earth and one of the last intact large-mammal ecosystems in Asia. The flagship Bhutanese wildlife spectacle is the Black-necked Crane: 600–700 of the world's 10,000 remaining birds winter in Phobjikha Valley (2,900m) from late October to late February, descending each dawn from their roost trees to feed in the glacial valley — the Royal Society for Protection of Nature's Crane Information Centre provides telescopes and interpretation, while the annual Phobjikha Crane Festival in November combines crane photography with traditional dance. The country's only endemic large mammal, the Takin (Budorcas taxicolor whitei) — the national animal, a goat-antelope that inspired the myth of the Golden Fleece — is reliably photographed at the Motithang Takin Preserve in Thimphu and in Jigme Dorji National Park. Golden Langur — one of the world's most endangered primates, with a population of roughly 6,000 — inhabits the subtropical forests of Panbang and Royal Manas National Park along the Indian border; Panbang Community Ecotourism runs the only dedicated golden langur tours. Royal Manas National Park (1,057 km²) is Bhutan's most wildlife-rich protected area, harbouring Bengal Tigers, Asian Elephants, Greater One-horned Rhinoceros, and Golden Langur in a landscape contiguous with India's Manas National Park — combined forming the largest protected area complex in the eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot.