Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
ted a large following with his unorthodox teachings, startling outbursts, and magical powers.
During his visit he was asked to perform a miracle. After consuming an entire cow and goat
for lunch, he placed the goat's head on the cow's skeleton and waved his arm, and the bizarre
takin sprang to life and galloped off to graze.
Our group cautiously approached the tall fence enclosing the captive herd of females,
young calves, and a watchful bull. The takin is a stout ungulate about the size of a cow, with
a shaggy, gold-hued coat, swollen muzzle, and short, curled horns. Wild takin herds wander
the high alpine meadows in summer, feasting on nutritious plants and escaping the leech- and
horsefly-infested forests below, keeping a lookout for prowling tigers. Although tigers once
occupied this entire belt across the Himalayas, now it is only in Bhutan that tigers still ven-
ture up to timberline to hunt takins and other montane ungulates. In other countries, tigers
are too vulnerable to poachers in such high, remote areas. At the onset of cold weather, wild
takins enter the dense forests and disperse. This captive herd lived a pampered, tiger-free life
but still seemed quite wild. Our curiosity brought us too close to them, spooking the animals.
An adult female barked something in takinese and the whole group rumbled down the hill-
side.
The next day, the official tour began and we headed for Punakha, the historical capital of
Bhutan. As we left the outskirts of Thimpu, we saw a solitary building that declared itself the
home of the Karma Insurance Company. I asked Nawang if the standard life insurance policy
in Bhutan covers multiple reincarnations. The ensuing string of Buddhist jokes set the tone
for the rest of the journey. Merriment seemed to be a favorite pastime in this country, where
the citizenry take the concept of happiness very seriously.
National merriment helps offset the mild unease caused by traveling the Bhutanese Nation-
al Highway, which includes scarcely 200 meters of straight road on the entire route connect-
ing Thimpu in the west with Tashigang in the east. The narrow one-and-a-half-lane highway
is carved out of mountainsides and features blind curves, dips, sheer drops, absent guardrails,
and long, winding grades that limit vehicles to a snaillike speed.
We continued east, ascending the north-south ridge that separates the conifer forests of
western Bhutan from the Himalayan broad-leaved forest in the center and east. Hemlocks
grow tall and straight, but their branches droop toward the ground as if weighed down by the
heavy growth of old man's beard (the ubiquitous lichen
Usnea
) hanging from the limbs. Him-
alayan yew, firs, spruces, and pines give off a sweet fragrance. Near the crest of the ridge,
conifers defer to stands of hardwoods. Here we stopped to gaze at a natural arboretum of
rhododendrons in full glory: pink, magenta, and crimson blossoms brightened lichen-covered
tree limbs. The showy white flowers of wild magnolias set off the rhododendron bouquets.
“Let's walk up here for a moment,” the soft-spoken Sherub suggested. On a clear day,
he said, one can see bearded vultures, or lammergeiers, circling above. “They figure in our
custom of sky burial. Our relatives carry the dead to a high promontory, where the body is
