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At the center of this ecoregion is the Irrawaddy River basin, whose ancient sands contain fossils of creatures both terrestrial and aquatic. Today, amid moist deciduous forests, present-day mammals and birds can be found in abundance, although they are limited to those few areas protected from development.
If you flew over this ecoregion, you would see forests stretching from the river basin up to the Rakhine Yoma foothills. Teak and iron wood trees dominate, mixed with evergreens and patches of bamboo. Where the forest has been cut down and the land cultivated, a noxious weed, Eupatorium odoratum, has often taken over.
This ecoregion was once ruled by large mammals such as the tiger and Asian elephant. Habitat loss and poaching, however, have all but eliminated these majestic species from the area. Still, small- and medium-sized mammals, and scores of bird species, have managed to survive here. Mammals include gaurs, sambar deer, golden cats, spotted linsangs, Himalayan black bears, dholes, and capped langurs. More than 350 bird species can be found here as well, including forest birds such as woodpeckers, orioles, and magpies, and water birds such as wagtails, sandpipers, and forktails. Two species are particularly vulnerable: the white-throated babbler and the hooded treepie.
Conversion of forests to agriculture and shifting cultivation remain the most persistent threats to this ecoregionās biodiversity. Illegal timbering and poaching are also ongoing problems. For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report. All text by World Wildlife Fund © 2001
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