Lower Tamur River Valley, Nepal Photograph by Chris Carpenter   Southern Asia: Northern India into Bhutan and Nepal Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   14,700 square miles (38,200 square kilometers) -- about the size of Maryland and Connecticut combined Critical/Endangered

· Steep Safety
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Steep Safety

To explore this ecoregion, you could begin at the bottom of the world’s deepest river gorge, the Kali Gandaki, and scramble up through mostly undisturbed forest. You’d then cross flatlands and foothills, moving through fields, pastures and other cleared land. And finally you’d climb the steep Outer Himalayas, where the forest canopy once again closes overhead. From bottom to top, the steep slopes of this ecoregion preserve forests and the animals that live there.

Special Features

Eight types of forest make up this ecoregion, ranging from dry scrub forests to tropical wet evergreen forests. Their variety echoes the variety of habitats and inhabitants found here. The variety comes from the subtropical climate, complex array of landscapes, rich soils, and the intermingling of species among Indo-Malayan and Palearctic regions. This diversity decreases as you move west and moisture levels decrease. Eight protected areas extend into this ecoregion, all of which help protect large animals such as tigers and elephants.

	Hornbills build a protective mud wall that almost seals the nesting hole shut -- with the female inside. She stays there, safe from predators, to lay her eggs, molt, and feed the youngsters until they are old enough to fly. (The male brings food for her and the young.) Then mother and young break out into the fresh air of the forest.

Wild Side

In this ecoregion, hornbills and tigers hold the key to preserving many other species. When land is set aside to protect tigers, the reserve also protects all the other animals that live in the same habitat. In this ecoregion, tiger reserves help protect golden langurs (slender long-tailed monkeys), wild dogs, clouded leopards, and many species of birds and plants. Hornbills can live only in mature forests, where large old trees have holes that hornbills use for nests. Protecting hornbills means protecting the entire forest, and thus the hundreds of plants and animals that live there. Two animals that live in these forests are found only in the Himalayas: the chestnut-breasted partridge and the golden langur. Other threatened species include the Asian elephant, Assamese macaque, Asiatic black bear, smooth-coated otter, gaur, and white-winged wood duck.

Cause for Concern

Wherever the land is not too steep, forests have been cleared for agriculture or cut for fuel. Grazing of livestock occurs in the remaining forests. People are also settling in forests, breaking up the vast habitat that Asian elephants and tigers require.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.