Cold-adapted migratory species, from musk deer in the Himalayas to snow trout in mountain rivers, are being forced into ever-shrinking habitats as global temperatures continue to climb, a new international report has warned.
Released on Friday by the UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the study draws on the findings of an expert workshop held earlier this year in Edinburgh. It concludes that climate-induced shifts in habitats are now colliding with existing human pressures, leaving vulnerable species with dwindling options for survival.
The report highlights that even giants such as the Asian elephant are running into what scientists call a “habitat gridlock.” It notes, “Climate and land-use changes are shifting elephant habitats eastward, but with limited connectivity, most elephants in India and Sri Lanka cannot follow, escalating human-elephant conflicts.”
The Himalayan ecosystem, already fragile, faces acute risk. “Cold-adapted wildlife, such as musk deer, pheasants and snow trout, are being pushed upslope into smaller, fragmented refugia, with some small mammals projected to lose over 50 per cent of their range,” the report observed.
Professor Sathyakumar Sambandam of the Wildlife Institute of India, who contributed a case study, emphasised the need to strengthen conservation beyond existing reserves. “We predict that high-altitude protected areas (PAs) may buffer climate impacts, but many areas outside PAs also serve as climate refugia. Conservation efforts must secure movement corridors, habitat islands and refugia to mitigate biodiversity reorganisation under climate change,” he said.
India has been monitoring these shifts under its National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem. Since 2015, long-term wildlife tracking has been carried out across four major river basins, the Beas in Himachal Pradesh, the Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand, the Teesta in Sikkim, and the Kameng in Arunachal Pradesh. Researchers have employed standardised sampling to gauge trends in species distribution and assess climate impacts.
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The CMS report said small mammals in Uttarakhand could lose more than half their natural range, while the snow trout is being forced into higher-altitude streams, a phenomenon scientists term “altitude squeeze.” Pheasants in the Eastern Himalayas are increasingly isolated by fragmented forests.
The crisis is not confined to South Asia. Arctic shorebirds are hatching out of sync with insect populations, slashing chick survival. The North Atlantic right whale, one of the most endangered cetaceans, is being driven into perilous detours in search of prey. In South America, last year’s Amazon heatwave killed hundreds of river dolphins as waters boiled to 41°C.
Marine ecosystems, too, are unravelling. Seagrass meadows, vital for dugongs, turtles and carbon storage, are withering under heatwaves and rising seas. In the Mediterranean, the CMS projects fin-whale habitats could contract by as much as 70 per cent by mid-century.
CMS Executive Secretary Amy Fraenkel said migratory animals act as nature’s warning signals. “From monarch butterflies vanishing from our gardens to whales veering off course in warming seas, these travellers are sending us a clear signal. Climate change is having impacts now and without urgent action, the survival of such species is in jeopardy,” she said.
The report underscores the scale of the threat: one in five migratory species faces extinction, while for migratory fish the figure rises to a staggering 97 per cent. It also points to the wider value of these species. “Whales support carbon-absorbing seagrass ecosystems and themselves store vast amounts of carbon. Each elephant in the Congo contributes USD 2.6 million worth of carbon storage services over its lifetime,” the study noted.
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