Mt. Hkakaborazi

Mt. Hkakaborazi - towers 6,432 meters above sea level was conquered only once in the history Located in the Kachin State, situated in the extreme North of Myanmar and is perennially snow-capped, being part of the Eastern Himalayan region. 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 hundreds 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 Hkakaborizi 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.