The Himalaya region is home to the world’s highest mountains, including Mt. Everest. The mountains rise abruptly, resulting in a diversity of ecosystems that range from alluvial grasslands and subtropical broadleaf forests to alpine meadows above the tree line. Vascular plants have even been recorded at more than 6,000 meters. This region is also one of Conservation International’s Biodiversity Hotspots (note: you will be leaving AnimalPlanet.com) – one of 34 regions worldwide where 75 percent of the planet’s most threatened mammals, birds and amphibians survive within habitat covering just 2.3 percent of the Earth’s surface.  The Himalaya Hotspot is home to important populations of numerous large birds and mammals, including snow leopards (Uncia uncia), giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), red pandas (Ailurus fulgens), Asian golden cats (Catopuma temminckii), and elusive takins (Budorcas taxicolor).

This immense mountain range, which covers nearly 750,000 km², has been divided into two regions: the Eastern Himalaya, which covers parts of Nepal, Bhutan, the northeast Indian states of West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh, southeast Tibet (China), and northern Myanmar; and the Western Himalaya, covering the Kumaon-Garhwal, northwest Kashmir, and northern Pakistan. While these divisions are largely artificial, the deep defile carved by the antecedent Kali Gandaki River between the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mountains has been an effective dispersal barrier to many species.

In 2006 Conservation International (CI) joined with the Walt Disney Company and Discovery Networks on an expedition to explore these amazing places.  The primary purpose for these expeditions was to assess the regions wildlife and vegetation through CI’s Rapid Assessment Program (note: you will be leaving AnimalPlanet.com).  During this RAP survey, local and international scientists from a variety of disciplines identified a wealth of species in China and Nepal, including: over 800 plant species, 285 kinds of birds, and more than 50 mammal species.

The Himalaya region is home to Tibetan Buddhists, whose cultural values encourage the protection of living beings–and therefore, of the natural world. Killing of life, especially in an unsustainable fashion, is in direct opposition to Buddhist teaching and Tibetan cultural values. The legend of the yeti, which posits the creature as a defender and inhabitant of only the most pristine lands, contributes to this practice. Yet even in this area filled with rich biodiversity and the strong influence of Tibetan culture, the Himalayas face great challenges from rapid social and economic development.

Conservation International (CI) applies innovations in science, economics, policy and community participation to protect the Earth's richest regions of plant and animal diversity in the biodiversity hotspots, high-biodiversity wilderness areas and key marine ecosystems. With headquarters in Washington, D.C., CI works in more than 40 countries on four continents. For more information about CI, visit www.conservation.org