The wildlife, as
an important component of the ecological system,
is the precious natural assets which provide the
basic condition for the life of human beings and
the social development. It is of great importance
to protect and use rationally this resource in
keeping ecological balance, improving natural
environment, conserving biodiversity and developing
national economy.
China is situated in the eastern part of the Asia-Europe
continent and the west coast of the pacific, covering
frigid temperate zone, temperate zone, warm temperate
zone, subtropical zone and tropical zone with
a total land area of 9.6 million square kilometers.
Complicated topography and varied climate make
China a rich and colorful fauna and flora. China
is one of the countries with the most diverse
varieties in animals and plants in the world and
there are 4,400 species for the vertebrates alone
taking up over 10% of the total species in the
world. Among them, 210 species are amphibious
animals, 320 species reptiles, l,186 species birds,
450 species beasts, and over 2,200 species fishes.
In the world there are altogether 15 species of
Gruidae, 148 species of Anserinae-Anatidae, 257
species of Carnivora, 276 species of Phasianidae
and 190 species of the primates, whereas in China,
there are 9 species, 46 species, 54 species, 56
species and 16 species respectively. Over 100
rare animals such as Ailuropoda melanoleucus,
Rhinopithecus roxellanae, Taiwania mulatta, Takin,
Cervus albirostris, South Chinese tiger, Crossoptilon
mantchuricum, Black-necked crane, Green-tailed
Red pheasant, Chinese alligator, Lipotes vexilliger,
Chinese paddlefish, etc. are the animal species
which China has as her own specialties or which
can be found mainly in China. There are no accurate
statistics yet as to the species of invertebrate
animals scattered in China, which is estimated
to be no less than 1 million. There are altogether
32,800 species of higher plants taking up over
12% of the world total, ranking third in the world,
second only to Malaysia and Brazil. Among them,
24,500 species are angiosperm, 236 gymnosperm,
2,00 bryophyte and 2,600 pteridophyte. Due to
the fact that most of China was not subject to
the influence of glaciation of the 4th period,
many of the ancient and solitary species and specialties,
which have become extinct in other regions in
the Northern Hemisphere, survive in Chilla; and
there are about 200 genera and over 10,000 species,
Cathaya argyrophylla, Metasequois glyptostroboides,
Glyptodtrobuspensilis, Pseudolarix amahilis, Taiwania
cryptomerioides, Ginkgo biloba, Davidid involllcrata,
Fagus qongipetiolata, Chinese Bretschneidera,
Emmenopteryshenryi, etc. just to name a few, --
they are all precious tree species, special in
China. China is also one of the 3 major original
centres for the cultivation of plants, processing
large numbers of kindred species of wild plants
such as wild walnut, wild chestnllt, wild apple,
wild lichee, wild longan and wild red hayberry,
wild rice, wild barley, wild soya bean, wild tea,
etc.. It is a great contribution to the mankind
to protect well the resources of wild animals
and plants in China.
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