Estimates suggest that some 900 birds exist in Pakistan and perhaps 5,000 in India, but numbers are declining. Buds, shoots and young leaves, as well as berries, seeds and insects. Among the most arboreal of pheasants. Lives in small family parties. A hen Western Tragopan has been observed lining a nest 12m up in a silver spruce with green oak leaves and sappy twigs.
Normal clutch is three to four eggs.
Tragopans are shy and wary and quick to skulk among the dense vegetation they inhabit. The Pakistan National Wildlife Council has set up facilities for raising nestlings from eggs taken in the wild for later release and a similar project exists in Himachal Pradesh in India. The largest population is within the Palas valley, Pakistan and is the focus of the BirdLife International Himalayan Jungle Project the mission of which is to safeguard the outstanding natural heritage of the Palas valley. The species has proved very delicate, and hard to rear in captivity. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 1995-1999.