Wildlife’s Natural Habitat
The snowy mountains, grasslands, forests and lakes on the Tibetan Plateau provide wildlife with the world's highest natural habitat and the best shelter they can find. Here, rare birds and beasts freely live and multiply. The unique geography and climate have given rise to many animals found nowhere else on earth, and are therefore of great scientific and economic value. Surveys show that there are 118 species of mammals, 473 species of birds, 49 species of reptiles, 44 species of amphibians, 61 species of fish and 2300 species of insects. The wilderness in the northwestern part of Tibet, which few humans have set foot on, is paradise to all kinds of animals.
Among the wildlife in Tibet, the most precious of the beasts are the wild yak, Tibetan antelope, wild Jonkey, argali and white-lipped deer. Birds include the black-necked crane, the Tibetan snow-pheasant, the Tibetan horse pheasant, the bar-headed goose and the brown-headed gull. As for the schizothorax, it is a kind of carp peculiar to the Tibetan Plateau and considered most rare. Traveling in the northwestern wilderness, you will often find herds of Tibetan antelopes and wild donkeys, in their hundreds, racing against your car. And if you should have the good fortune to visit Birds Island, you will be awed by the sight of tens of thousands of plume gulls flying overhead, literally blocking out the sun.
To protect the plateau's wildlife resources, the Tibet government has issued special decrees and listed the rare animals under strict government protection. It has also marked out several wildlife conservations to provide effective shelter for the treasured animals.
The reason you never feel lonely traveling on the Tibetan Plateau is that apart from the friendly and unaffected people you meet and the numerous sights to see, you will frequently have the company of many wild animals, who are close friends of the highland people.
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