The high altitude wildlife areas of western Arunachal Pradesh

Introduction
Chapter 1
A biological expedition in the high altitudes of Western Arunachal
Pradesh, Eastern Himalaya
Introduction
A rich diversity of life
The state of Arunachal Pradesh in northeast India is uniquely situated in the
transition zone between the Himalayan and Indo-Burmese regions (26°28'– 29°30'N
and 91°30'– 97°30'E; 83,743 km²; Fig. 1) 1,2 . Arunachal is located within the Eastern
Himalaya global biodiversity hotspot 3 and is also among the 200 globally important
ecoregions 4 . The state harbours the world’s northernmost tropical rainforests and is
estimated to have nearly 50 % of the total flowering plant species in India 5-8 . Of the
1200 bird species in India, nearly 600 have been recorded from the state 9 , which is also
recognized as an important endemic bird area 10 . Arunachal is also home to fascinating
species of large herbivores such as the takin Budorcas taxicolor, goral Nemorhaedus
goral, and serow Nemorhaedus sumatraensis, several species of primates, and
carnivores such as the common leopard Panthera pardus, clouded leopard Neofelis
nebulosa, and tiger Panthera tigris.
The wide altitudinal range (100 m to over 6000 m) within Arunachal has
brought about a great diversity of habitat and forest types, and a rich diversity of
animal and plant life. Lowland tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests occur up
to 1500 m, temperate oak and conifer forests up to 3500 m, and alpine areas above
3500 m. Large areas of forest still remain in the state, in part due to its low human
population density (13 per km 2 ) 11 . Although Arunachal has the lowest human density
compared to other Indian states, its decadal growth rate (1991-2001) of 26% is higher
Fig. 1. Map of Arunachal Pradesh, north-east India. Hatched regions represent protected areas. The high altitude
region (> 3000 m) of the state is shaded gray. Note the near absence of protected areas in the high altitudes. 1.
Eagle’s Nest Wildlife Sanctuary 2. Sessa Orchid Sanctuary 3. Pakhui WS 4. Itanagar WS 5. Kane WS 6. Yordi Rabe
Supse WS 7. Mouling National Park 8. Dihang Dibang Biosphere Reserve 9. D’Ering WS 10. Mehao WS 11. Kamlang
WS 12. Namdapha NP.
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