ENVIRONMENT & WILDLIFEFLORA & FAUNA323beasts’. Though Myanmar’s natural biodiversity has no doubt altered
considerably since that time, it’s diffi cult to say by just how much.
The most comprehensive wildlife survey available was undertaken by
the Bombay Natural History Society (www.bnhs.org) between 1912 and
1921 and published as theMammal Survey of India, Burma and Ceylon.
In Myanmar The Wild Animals of Burma, published in 1967, is the most
‘recent’ work available and even this volume simply contains extracts
from various surveys carried out by the British between 1912 and 1941 ,
with a few observations dating to 1961. The US-based Wildlife Conserva-
tion Society (www.wcs.org) has engaged in a number of localised surveys,
primarily in the far north, over the past few years, but currently nobody
is attempting a full nationwide stocktake of plants and animals.
As with Myanmar’s fl ora, the variation in Myanmar’s wildlife is closely
associated with the country’s geographic and climatic diff erences. Hence
the indigenous fauna of the country’s northern half is mostly of Indo-
Chinese origin, while that of the south is generally Sundaic (ie typical of
Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and Java). In the Himalayan region north of
the Tropic of Cancer (just north of Lashio), the fauna is similar to that
found in northeastern India. In the area extending from around Myitkyina
in the north to the Bago Mountains in the central region, there is overlap
between geographical and vegetative zones – which means that much of
Myanmar is a potential habitat for plants and animals from all three zones.
Distinctive mammals found in dwindling numbers within the more
heavily forested areas of Myanmar include leopards, fi shing cats, civ-
ets, Indian mongooses, crab-eating mongooses, Himalayan bears, Asi-
atic black bears, Malayan sun bears, gaur (Indian bison), banteng (wild
cattle), serow (an Asiatic mountain goat), wild boars, sambar, barking
deer, mouse deer, tapirs, pangolin, gibbons and macaques. Sea mammals
include dolphins and dugongs.
Reptiles and amphibians include 27 turtle species (of which seven
are found exclusively in Myanmar), along with numerous snake variet-
ies, of which an astounding 52 are venomous, including the common
MYANMAR’S ECO TREASURE CHESTMyanmar has long intrigued scientists who believe that many critically endangered
species, or even species that are new to science, might be living in closed-off parts of
the country. As remote parts of the country have opened up, the scientists’ hopes have
been proven correct.
In 2010, the BBC reported the discovery of a new species of primate, since dubbed
the Burmese snub-nosed monkey. It’s estimated there’s a population of between 260
and 330 of these monkeys living by the Mekong and Thanlwin rivers in Kachin State.
In 2009, a team of World Conservation Society scientists discovered fi ve Arakan forest
turtles amid thick stands of bamboo in a sanctuary set up originally to protect elephants.
Previously this critically endangered species, less than a foot long and with a light brown
shell, had only been seen in museum specimens and a handful of captive examples.
The Kitti’s hog-nosed bat, also known as the bumblebee bat, is another rare species
discovered in Myanmar in 2001. At a length of 1.25in to 1.5in and weighing in at just
0.07oz, the world’s smallest bat, as well as potentially the world’s smallest mammal (it
vies with the Etruscan pygmy shrew for this honour), was previously thought to live only
in a tiny part of western Thailand.
The stunningly bright Gurney’s pitta is a small bird that underwent a dramatic decline
during the 20th century, until only a single population in Thailand was known. However, it
was also discovered in Myanmar in 2003, giving hope that it may also be able to survive.
In 1999, another previously unknown species, the 25lb, 20in-tall ‘ leaf deer’, or ‘ leaf
muntjac’ was confi rmed in northern Myanmar. The tiny animal is so called because it
can be wrapped up in a large leaf.See http://www.national
geographic.com/
adventure (search
for ‘Rabinowitz’)
for an in-depth
interview with
Alan Rabinowitz,
the man who has
done more for
conservation in
Myanmar than
anyone else.