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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

350 new species of flora, fauna found in Himalayas

Environmentalists have found some news to cheer about. A new report by the World Wildlife Fund or WWF shows the presence of atleast 350 new species of flora and fauna. All these species have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas, in the last decade.
This snow leopard has company in the Himalayas and it's not just the rare red pandas.
Eastern Himalayas is also home to the red-footed bright green tree frog. This frog which glides from one tree to another was unknown to the world till now.
The little freshwater prawn, the ornamental shrimp is another new addition. The Arunachal macaque, a new primate species is an extraordinary find.
These are just a few of the 350 new species that have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas in the last 10 years.
Wildlife biologist Dipankar Ghose from the WWF said that out of these species newly discovered in India, include one bird and two mammal species.
This itself is a pointer that the area has a lot of potential in terms of richness of flora and fauna.
The world of a biologist is richer by the discovery these rare Himalayan species:
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244 plants
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16 amphibians
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16 reptiles
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14 types of fish
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2 mammals
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At least 60 new invertebrates
But the fragile Himalayan ecosystem is facing an unprecedented onslaught.. only 25 per cent of the original habitat of the forest here is still intact.
Over 300 dams are being built on the river Teesta which will submerge these biodiversity hotspots wiping out many species which are already endangered.
Of the 163 species considered to be globally threatened, 90 per cent are from north-east India. Of these, 70 species cannot be found anywhere else on earth. The report makes an urgent plea for protection of their habitat to save them from extinction.

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