Bhutan Flora and Fauna

Flora

Bhutan has a very rich species of flora ranging from altitudes as low as 200m to as high as 4000m. Over 5500 species of vascular plants have been recorded till date including 46 species of Rhododendrons and 369 species of Orchids. The Bhutan Himalayas is also important source of valuable medicinal plants used in ayurvedic medicine so much so that a National Institute of Traditional Medicine has been established at Thimphu.

Botanical Name: Meconopsis grandis Prain
Common Name: Blue Poppy
Local Name: Euitphel Metog Hoem (Dzongkha)
Distinctive Character: Flowers usually few, rich blue or purple, borne on long stalks from the uppermost leaves, or sometimes arising directly from the basal rosette of leaves. Flowers large, with commonly 4 rounded petals (sometimes as many as 9) upto 7cm in size; Stamen filament whitish. Leaves stalked, the stalk sheathing at base, with oblancoelate to oblong elliptic coarsely toothed blade 10-30 cm, covered in rufous bristles; Uppermost leaves in a false whorl from which the flowers arise. Capsule ellipsoid - oblong to 5cm;
Flowering season - Late May to July
Distribution in Bhutan: 3300-4500m. Chelela (Paro),Yelela (Thimphu), Orkhala (Trashigang), Mela (Tashiyangtse)
Info source: Flowers of the Himalaya - O. Polunin & A. Stainton; Flora / Fauna in a nutshell - RSPN

Botanical Name: Rhododendron kesangiae Long & Rushforth
Local Name: Tala (Dzongkha)
Distinctive Character: Flower rose or pink, fading to pale pink or light purple, white, 16-30 flowers in compact racemes (clusters), campanulate (bell-shaped), with dark muave nectar pouches, each flower 4-4.5 cm, 3-35.cm wide, petals 8-lobed; Leaf 20-30cm long, 10-16cm wide, broadly elliptic to almost obovate, apex rounded, base cuneate or rounded, indumentation (fine closely matted hair) beneath with very prominent lateral veins; Bark rough, grey brown.
Flowering season - April-May.
Distribution in Bhutan: 2700 - 3100m. Duchula, Talakha, Zedekha (Thimphu), Chelela (Paro), Thrumshingla, Upper Dhur Valley (Bumthang), Sengor (Mongar).
Remarks: Endemic to Bhutan, named after HRH The Queen Mother Ashi Kesang Chhoden Wangchuck; Found in undergrowth of Fir Forest;
Info Source: Wild Rhododendrons of Bhutan - R. Pradhan

Botanical Name: Rheum nobile Hook. f. & Thoms.
Common Name: The Dock
Local Name: Chhukar metog (Dzongkha)
Distinctive Character: Very striking perrenial with a stout erect stem to 1.5m and with a conical spike of large pale cream-coloured rounded bladder-like bracts concealing the flower shoots, the bracts becomin progressively smaller up the stem; Yellow-Green Flowers clustered, 2mm across, numerous in branched clusters to 6cm; Leaves leathery, rounded upto 30cm across. margins usually edged with red, leaf-stalk stout
Flowering Season: July-August
Distribution in Bhutan: 3600-5000m. Zadola, Barshong (Thimphu), Chebesa, Laya (Gasa), Dur,Melang Valleys (Bumthang), Monla (Trongsa)

Fauna

Bhutan’s outstanding biodiversity and ecosystems

The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small, landlocked nation nestled in the southern slopes of the Eastern Himalaya. To its north lies the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and to the west, south and east lies the Indian states of Sikkim, Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The terrain is some of the most rugged in the world, characterised by huge variations in altitiude. Within the 150 miles between the southern and northern borders, Bhutan’s elevation rises from 150 to more than 7,500 metres. This great geographical diversity combined with equally diverse climate conditions contributes to Bhutan’s outstanding range of biodiversity and ecosystems.

The tiger, one horned rhino, golden langur, clouded leopard, hispid hare and the sloth bear live in the lush tropical lowland and hardwood forests in the south. In the temperate zone, grey langur, tiger, common leopard, goral and serow are found in mixed conifer, broadleaf and pine forests. Fruit bearing trees and bamboo provide habitat for the Himalayan black bear,red panda,squirrel,sambar,wild pig and barking deer. The alpine habitats of the great Himalayan range in the north are home to the snow leopard, blue sheep,marmot, Tibetan wolf,antelope and Himalayan musk deer.

Flora and birds abound with more than 770 species of bird and 5,400 species of plants known to occur throughout the Kingdom.

Conservation significance

The Eastern Himalayas have been indentified as a global biodiversity hotspot and counted amoung the 234 globally outstanding ecoregions of the world in a comprehensive analysis of global biodiversity undertaken by WWF between 1995-97. Bhutan is seen as a model for proactive conservation initiatives. The Kingdom has recieved international acclaim for its commitment to the maintenance of its biodiversity. This is reflected in the decision to maintain at least sixty percent of the land area under forest cover, to designate more than a quarter of its territory as national parks, reserves and other protected areas, and most recently to identify a further nine percent of land area as biodiversity corridors linking the protected areas. Environmental conservation has been placed at the core of the nation’s development strategy, the middle path. It is not treated as a sector but rather as a set of concerns that must be mainstreamed in Bhutan’s overall approach to development planning and to be buttressed by the force of law.

Scientific Name: Ailures fulgens
Common Name: Red Panda / Cat Bear
Local Name: Achhu Dongkar (Dzongkha)
Physical Description: medium-sized bear-like mammal with a thick rusty to deep chestnut colored coat. The muzzle, eye patches and the fronts of the large pointed ears are white and there are broad white cheek patches. The tail is long and bushy with broad brown and ginger rings. The nose is black. It walks like a bear with forepaws pointed inwards. . It has long white whiskers and an almost cat-like face. The forepaws have an extended pad on the sole and on the first digit to assist in climbing and grasping bamboo.
Size: Head & body length - 510mm - 635mm; Shoulder Height -273mm - 283mm; Tail length - 280mm - 485mm; · Weight: 3.0kg - 6.2kgs
Diet/Food: almost exclusively eats bamboo, sometimes supplement their diet during summer with fruits including berries, blossoms, fungi, seeds, acorns, eggs, young birds, small rodents, and insects. A female red panda can eat approximately 200,000 bamboo leaves in one day. (Reid et al. 1991).Red pandas spend as much as 13 hours a day searching for and eating bamboo. Only about 25 % of the already limited energy in bamboo is extracted.
Distribution in Bhutan: 1500-4000m. Pelela (Wangdue), Thrumshingla (Bumthang), Samechu (Gasa)