Himalayan race of Stoat Mustela erminea ferghanae with prey, 10 July 2010. Zanskar Valley. Ladakh, India. 

... species of weasels Mustela (family Mustelidae) are known to occur in the Indian Himalaya: Pale or Mountain Weasel M. al- taica , Stoat or Ermine M. erminea , Siberian or Himalayan Weasel M. sibirica , Yellow-bellied Weasel M. kathiah and Stripe-backed Weasel M. strigidorsa (Pocock 1941, Prater 1980, Mallon 1991, Sathyakumar 1999, Menon 2003, Pfister 2004). Of these, the first four species are found in the northwestern province of India, i.e., Jammu & Kashmir (Alfred et al. 2006). In addition, the congeneric Steppe Polecat M. eversmanii (sometimes considered conspecific with M. putorius ) may occur in India, but was not included by Pocock (1941), even though there is a 1879 specimen in the Nat- ural History Museum, London, purportedly obtained in Ladakh (Mallon 1991, Menon 2003). We hereby report a recent sight- ing of M. e. ferghanae in the Zanskar range, Ladakh, that forms part of the Indian Trans-Himalaya in the province of Jammu & Kashmir. Stoat has a circumboreal distribution in North America, Europe and Asia, with an altitudinal range from sea level to at least 4,000 m (King 1983). The race M. e. ferghanae occurs over 3,000–4,000 m altitude at the southern limit of the species’s Asian range. It was mapped by King (1983) for parts of India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet and the adjacent parts of Tien Shan in China, but some of this range may be speculative because the species is not recorded from Tibet in standard sources such as Wang (2002). Because In- dia lies on edge of Stoat’s distribution, it may be rare there. In India, Stoat is among the least-studied mammals, with little known of its local ecology, population, distribution, and cur- rent status. Globally, the species is listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Least Concern, because it is widespread in distribution and is believed to be abundant with no major threats (IUCN 2010). However, the Indian population is listed on Sched- ule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and in CITES Appendix III. Thus, its hunting is prohibited in India. Ladakh represents a distinctive biogeographic province with- in the Indian Trans-Himalaya known for its interesting assem- blage of flora and fauna, with close affinities to those of Tibet, and unique habitat features (Rodgers & Panwar 1988, Rawat 2008). This region exhibits harsh climatic conditions and low primary productivity. During an ecological survey of alpine rangelands in the Sankoo Range of Kargil Division (Western Ladakh) in the late afternoon of 10 July 2010, we heard alarm calls of some birds. These were trying to mob a small mammal, which turned out to be a Stoat . The Stoat was carrying a vole Alticola in its mouth (Fig. 1). Other possible prey species in this area include hares Lepus and pikas Ochotona (personal observations). This site (Fig. 2) is close to a stream, at 34°10′18.20′′N, 76°13′08.70′′E, and 4,054 m record - ed altitude (from a GPS receiver [Garmin Inc.], checked against a topographic map), nearly 5 km south-southeast of the village of Ichu. The vegetation around the area was riverine scrub dominated by Salix , Cicer microphyllum , Arnebia euchroma , Lindelofia stylosa ...