Top Ten Mountain Animals at the Highest Heights

Believe it or not, the world isn’t flat. Yeah, we all know the earth is round but that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about slopes and hills, cliffs and mountains. We’re talking about elevation!

Elevation measures how high something is above sea level (asl). Everything has an elevation, even cities.  North America’s highest point is Mouth McKinley (6,194 m asl) in Alaska. However, none of these compare to the highest point in the world, Mount Everest, standing at a towering 8,848 m asl!

There aren’t very many animals that live at high elevations. That’s because the higher you go, the thinner the air becomes, making it harder to breathe. In this top ten, we look at 10 animals that have what it takes to live at the top of the world.

*note: there are other species that live at high elevations including insects and plants. The Himalayan jumping spider (Euophrys omnisuperstes) is found at as high as 6,700 m asl and is considered to have the highest home in the world.

http://www.toronto.ca/toronto_facts/geography.htm
http://www.calgary.ca/CA/fs/Documents/Plans-Budgets-and-Financial-Reports/Annual-Reports/Annual-Report-2008.pdf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Euophrys_omnisuperstes

Brown Bear (Ursus arctos)

Where: Across North America, throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and even North Africa
How high: Lives up to 5,000 m (16,400 ft) asl
Ref: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41688/0

Himalayan Tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus)

Where: China, India, Nepal
How high: Lives up to 5,000 m (16,400 ft) asl
Ref: http://www.arkive.org/himalayan-tahr/hemitragus-jemlahicus/

Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus)

Where: Southern Europe, Middle East, Northeastern China, and parts of Africa
How high: Lives up to 5,000 m (16,400 ft) asl but has been spotted at 7,500 m (24,600 ft)
Ref: http://www.arkive.org/lammergeier/gypaetus-barbatus/

Tibetan sand fox (Vulpes ferrilata)

Where: China, India, Nepal
How high: Lives up to 5,200 m (17,100 ft) asl
Ref: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/23061/0

Himalayan Marmot (Marmota himalayana)

Where: China, India, Nepal, Pakistan
How high: Lives up to 5,200 (17,100 ft) asl
Ref: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/12826/0

Kiang (Equus kiang)

Where: China, India, Nepal, Pakistan
How high: Lives up to 5,400 m (17,700 ft) asl
Ref: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/7953/0

Chiru (Pantholops hodgsonii)

Where: China, India
How high: Lives up to 5,500 m (18,000 ft) asl
Ref: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15967/0

Tibetan gazelle (Procapra picticaudata)

Where: China, India
How high: Lives up to 5,750 m (18,900 ft) asl
Ref: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/18231/0

Yak (Bos mutus)

Where: China, India
How high: Lives up to 6,100 m (20,000 ft) asl
Ref: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/2892/0

Alpine Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus)

Where: Europe, Asia, North Africa
How high: Lives up to 6,500 m (21,300 ft) asl but has been spotted 8,200 m (26,900 ft) asl
Ref: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22705921/0