| |
|
Great
Canyon of Yarlung Zangbo Nature Reserve |
| |
| |
| |
The
refreshing daphne odora
orchis
orchis
There are a lot of epiphytes in the
monsoon rainforests. Plants of the orchid
family can be seen everywhere. Golden-locks
suspending downwards on the trunks of
the trees and nest ferns growing on
the tree forks look like the nests of
birds. On the ground surface, people
can see Habenaris, Arisaema, Primula
and other grasses. There are activities
of human beings in the Modog River valley.
The people are all of Mamba or Lhoba
people. Their villages are scattered
or collectively located in the river
valley terraces of different elevations
and are isolated from the outside. The
cane plantain woods, the canes and bamboos
planted there seem to drip green in
monsoon rains. Wild lemons, bananas
and oranges also grow very well. Piece
after piece of rice fields imbedded
in the terraced fields on the river
valley plains. The creeping vine crops
and the early rice promise a rich crop.
They are the materials for wine brewing
for the local people. The big and golden
pumpkins in the vegetable garden beside
the village can grow as big as more
than 5 kilograms. The red bright peppers
are local products and the local people
often use them to exchange other objects.
In the monsoon rainforest environment
of the low river valleys, there is a
kind of humped cattle. It has a hatch
on its back, which resembles that of
a camel. There are also tigers here,
a kind of Bengal tiger. On the way of
our expedition, we also caught a king
cobra that is hatching its eggs. We
also saw rat snakes, searing iron snake,
bungarus multicinctus, green bamboo
snake, hornbill, sunbird and all kinds
of tree frogs. Insects are even numerous,
among which, there are many new species
and newly recorded species. In the winter
of 1998, we collected a kind of Zorotypus
medoensis - the notchwing in Metog River
valley in the northern slope of the
Himalayas, which is a newly recorded
geological distribution...
Wild
pepper
During our expedition in Metog, we had
to travel on foot all the way. I didn't
imagine plants could bother our journey.
Not only the vines mingling together
were making our journey difficult or
the darkness and humidity in the fog
forest that were making it difficult
for us to recognize the direction; there
were dry leeches everywhere. They would
attack people from all direction. They
crawled all over our legs and we could
neither tear them down nor throw them
away. A kind of nettle would thorn into
our legs when we were absent-minded
and it also hurt the backs of our hands.
The sores it gave us made it difficult
for us to forget its existence for quite
a long time. All these would give us
spiritual burdens all the time. Of course,
there were also some plants that would
make us happy. Because we could eat
their fruits when we were thirsty, such
as wild oranges, wild bananas and water
gourds etc. After all, the plants here
are only an outline of the vegetations
in Medog. As a matter of fact, the plants
in Medog are more enriched, more colorful
than what we could imagine, because
Medog is the "Xishuangbanna of
Tibet" and the kingdom of plants.
A
Red Panda
The dense forests, the high mountain
bushes and grassland in the Great Canyon
are the dwelling places of many kinds
of animals. Among which, many are key
and precious state protection animals.
An
Ocelot
There are some protected and rare animals
in this district, such as: Budorcas
taxicolor, Parthera tigris, Pseudois
nayaur, Naemorhedus goral, Ailurus fulgens,
Presbytis eatellus, Crossoptilon crossoptilon
harmani, Aceros nipalensis etc.
A macaque with the taxus
chinensis
On the other hand, there many kinds
of precious fur animals: Lutra lutra,
Martes flavigula, Mustela sibirica and
Felis bengalensis ets. ; Animals used
for medicine: Moschus berezovskii, Selenarctos
thibetanus, Petaurista petaurista, Japalura
andersoniana Annandale, Trimeresurus
medolensis Zhao, Ophiophagus hannah,
Macaca mulatta etc.; fancy animals:
Tragopan satyra, Psittacula alexabdri
fasciata, Psittacula derbiana, Aethopyga
g. gouldiae, Aethopyga i. ignicauda,
Leiothrix lutea calipyga, Chrysolophus
amberstiae, Grus nigricollis etc. |
| |
|
