Nepal Himalayas at dusk. Photo by Dr Som Ale.
I was looking at some photos of the Himalayas the other day and thinking about how old that massive mountain range actually is. Himalayas, meaning in Sanskrit “the abode of snow”, are home to snow leopards across Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.
A quick look at Wikipedia had it sorted – the Himalayas were formed around 50 million years ago when the Indian landmass, which was a long way south of where it is today, shifted north and collided with Asia and forced a huge belt of mountains up into the air. Without this wonderful high and remote environment, we wouldn’t have snow leopards.
How the Himalayas were formed about 50 million years ago. Map by Wikipedia.
Surprisingly the Indian continent continues its northwards journey even today forcing the Himalayas to grow up even closer to the sky at a rate of around 5 cm per year. Not too sure what this Earth will be like in another 50 million years but the Himalayas will be even more huge. Hopefully snow leopards will still find a home there.
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