Mt. Hkakaborazi
Towering 19296 ft (6,432) meters above sea level, situated
in the extreme North of Myanmar in the Kachin State.
Perennially snow-capped, being part of the Eastern Himalayan
region was conquered only once in the history. The
Hkakaborazi protected area covers 3812 square kilometers and
the headwaters of the great Ayayawaddy river, Myanmar's main
artery for commerce and navigation, are to be found here.
Accessibility is difficult in the Hkakaborazi region.
Streams have to be crossed on precarious rattan bridges
slung across the gorges sometimes hun
dreds of feet above the
rushing torrents and rocky streambeds. For the most part,
journeys are made on foot along footpaths that hug the
mountainsides and wind through dense jungle undergrowth. The
ethnic minorities inhabit in the Hkakaborazi area are of
Kachin, Rawan and include the fast remaining members of the
Tarong tribe, an endangered race of diminutive people none
of whom are more than 4 feet in height.
The tree rhododendron is indigenous to this mountain area,
and of the 600 knows species of rhododendria, 118 were
collected here by the English botanist Farrer in 1919-20.
Wild orchids also bloom in great profusion on Hkakaborazi.
Nineteen species of pine were, also identified including
species being the striking "Blue Pine" (pirus wallichiana).
One hundred and thirty four avian species were also
recorded, among them being two on the endangered list, viz,
the Impeyan Pheasant (lophophorous impejanus) and the Blood
pheasant (Ithaginis cruentis).
Fifteen rare species of pheasant were also observed,
including the chestnut thrush and the Red-tailed laughing
thrush, specimens of which were plentifully encountered. The
Hkakaborazi region is the home of the rare "Blue Sheep" (pseudois
sp)", the Red Goral (Naemorhaedus cranbrook, the Takin (Budorcas
taxi color), the
serow (Capriconis sumatrensis) and the
Black Barking Deer (Muntiacus crinifrons). The presence of
criniforms in northern Myanmar has never been recorded in
the scientific literature, but this species was founded to
be thriving in the icy mountains of the Hkakaborazi reserve.
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