It is in the interest of protecting both people and one of the planet's most important environments to take far-sighted action now. There may be hundreds of rare or endangered species of flora and larger fauna out of the 6,000 species found in this proposed preserve. No one knows for sure. But some dramatic examples of threatened large mammals are musk deer, red panda, red ghoral, takin, capped langur, and a black and white variant of the very rare golden monkey that lives at high elevation in fir forests of the Mekong valley and dines, in part, on lichens. All four valleys are still scientifically unexplored.
New species wait to be discovered.
A magnificent array of flowering plants are found in this region including poppies, gentians, saxifrages, and orchids. A spectacular richness is found in rhododendrons. Of the 600 or so species of wild rhododendrons in the world, over 200 come from this area, and a single mountain slope here has 54 different species. The Snow Leopard is a central Asian species, while the Clouded Leopard is a Southeast Asian species. The tiger is pan-Asian, and the Spotted Leopard is both African and Asian.