Nature

Even as the world is trying to heal itself from the scars of ecological damage, Bhutan is emerging as an example to the international community, with more than 70 percent of its land still under forest cover and a great variety of rare plant and wildlife species. The dense forests, ranging from the sub-tropical to the temperate and the alpine, are home to rare and endangered species of mammalian wildlife like the Tiger, The Blue Sheep, the elusive Snow Leopard, the Himalayan Black Bear, the Golden Langur, the Takin and so on. So far more than 700 species of birds have been recorded, including dozens that are globally threatened. These include White-bellied Her¬on, Phalla’s Fish Eagle, Black-necked Crane, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Grey-crowned Prinia and Beautiful Nuthatch.