As their name suggests, these birds come from the Himalayas, from Eastern Afghanistan continuously through Pakistan India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. They live at an altitude of 8,000 to 15,000 feet and are probably found, in summer, at a higher altitude than any other pheasant species. They are very hardy.
The Himalayan Monal is the national bird of Nepal. Their heavy beak is designed for digging out roots and bulbs. In Victorian times they were hunted for their brilliant metallic plumage and for the small "racquet-shaped" feathers on the male's head. Like most pheasant species, only the male has the brightly coloured plumage. However, the female's duller display affords her much greater camouflage from predators such as eagles, particularly when she is sitting on her nest. This camouflage gives her a much greater life expectancy in the wild than the male (about seven years as opposed to four for the male). The male does not develop his adult plumage until his second year. Over the course of this summer, you will be able to see our young male moult from his juvenile brown plumage to his full adult splendour.

The World Pheasant Association has recently arranged to send some of this species to the larger zoos in India so that birds do not need to be taken from the wild.