All the animals that live on the Tibetan plateau are specially adapted to do so. For example, blue sheep and chiru are well-camouflaged with their surrounding habitats to avoid visual detection from predators. Blue sheep have strong legs to traverse mountain sides, while chiru are excellent at bounding across flatter land to escape predators. Eurasian lynx have wide feet and dense fur, so walking across snow and tolerating wind are no problem for this predator. Vultures feed on carrion (dead animals), which is incredibly important for maintaining the proper functioning of the entire ecosystem and for reducing disease risk. Dogs also thrive in this environment, but act as a predator. This can have negative consequences, because there are so many of them and they out compete natural predators on the Tibetan Plateau for food.
Climate changes is the biggest threat to all life on the Tibetan Plateau. Because the Tibetan Plateau is so high in elevation, it experiences the negative impacts of climate change at a faster rate. As the Tibetan Plateau warms, large environmental shifts occur in relation to temperature, and all wildlife must adjust accordingly. This can be difficult for species that are specialists, meaning that they only eat certain foods and have specific habitat requirements to survive. We are very worried about climate change on the Tibetan Plateau, because it is already one of the highest elevation landscapes in the world. Most wildlife cannot move up in elevation any higher than they are to escape the negative consequences of warming here.
