The Eastern Himalayas - an area that
includes northern Myanmar, as well as Nepal,
Bhutan, parts of China, India and Bangladesh
contain vast tracts of remote and inaccessible
terrain that few scientists have managed to
reach and which provide a home for some of the
planet’s most mysterious animals.
New species are turning up at a rate of 35 a
year and highlights uncovered in the region
since 1998 include the miniature muntjac "Muntiacus
putaoensis" also known as the leaf deer, which
at 60 to 80 centimeters tall and 8 to 11
kilograms is the smallest species of deer in the
world. It was discovered in 1998 by a scientific
team led by Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, now the
president of New York based conservation group
Panthera, who later helped to establish the
Hukaung Valley Tiger Reserve. The team initially
believed the tiny deer to be a juvenile of
another species but was surprised to find it was
an adult female of an as yet unknown species,
later coined the leaf deer.
Another mammal to be unearthed in the area in
the past 10 years was the Arunachal macaque "Macacamunzala"
the first new monkey to be fond in a century.
Among the most visually striking are the
red-footed but otherwise bright green flying
frog "Rhacophorussuffry" and Smith’s litter frog
"Leptobrachium smithi" which boasts huge golden
eyes and was described by the World Wildlife
Fund (WWF), which has compiled a report on the
region, as “among the most
extraordinary-looking” frogs in the world.
Other new species include catfish with sticky
stomachs, a luridly green pit viper, a
freshwater beetle living at 5100 meters above
sea level, higher than any other beetle and a
bird restricted to a site less than a square
mile.
Overall from 1998 to 2008 two mammals, two
birds, 16 amphibians, 16 reptiles, 14 fish, 244
plants and more than 60 invertebrates have been
identified in the region, according to the WWF
report "The Eastern Himalayas – Where Worlds
Collide". Fourteen of the new discoveries – five
plants, three invertebrates, two fish, two
reptiles, one bird and one amphibian were made
in Myanmar according to the report.
The Eastern Himalayas, regarded as one of the
most rugged and beautiful areas of the world, is
already the stronghold of the Bengal tiger, the
only home of the snow leopards and the last
sanctuary of the greater one – horned - rhino,
but has so much unknown wildlife that
researchers expect many more discoveries to be
made in the future.
Discoveries have also been made of species which
lived in the region millions of years ago and
were preserved when they became encased in amber
resin. Among the creatures preserved in amber
was the earliest known gecko "Cretaceogekko
burmae" from 100 million years ago which was
identified in 2008. Other included the oldest
known tick and the earliest recorded mushroom.
The region is a hotspot for wildlife and
harbours a huge number of species including
10000 plants, 300 mammals, 977 birds, 176
reptiles, 105 amphibians and 269 types of
freshwater fish. WWF has launched the Climate
for Life campaign to raise public awareness of
environmental problems in the Himalayas and is
working with local communities to help them cope
with the impacts of climate change. The wealth
and variety of wildlife being found in the
eastern Himalayas comparable with better
recognized ecological hotspots such as Borneo.
Source: THE MYANMARTIMES Volume 25.No.484
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