As a "flagship species", Asian elephants are of great significance to the ecological environment. 1977, China declared the Asian elephant an endangered species, and established a wild elephant nature reserve in Xishuangbanna. Now the living environment of Asian elephants has been obviously improved. Its number has also increased from more than 80 in the 1980s to about 300 now. Asian elephants in China are mainly distributed in Xishuangbanna, and a few are distributed in nearby Pu 'er City [Simao].
Extended data:
Pineapple, phoenix flower, is located in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. 1992 is listed in the world biosphere reserve network. With an area of 200,000 hectares, this area is a comprehensive nature reserve for tropical ecosystems and various animals and plants in China. Under the influence of tropical monsoon climate, plants in Xishuangbanna have bred into a monsoon rain forest different from the equatorial rain forest.
There are more than 4000 kinds of higher plants here, and almost half of the first-and second-class plants under state protection are distributed here. For example, 1975 discovered the 70-meter-high Wang Tianshu, which once caused a sensation in botany. Birds are the most abundant animals, with more than 400 species, accounting for 1/3 of the total number of birds in China. 62 species of mammals, such as Asian elephant, Indian tiger, clouded leopard, civet cat and lazy monkey, are all rare animals, especially the white-cheeked gibbon, which is one of the highly evolved species among primates and is rare in number, and is a key national protection object.
References:
Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve _ Baidu Encyclopedia