Natural History Of The Mekong Basin

Mekong Basin is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. Only Amazon can boast of a higher degree of biodiversity. Estimates of the biota of the Greater Mekong (GMS) consists of 20 000 plant species, 430 mammals, birds 1200, 800 reptiles and amphibians and 850 species approximately. In 2009, 145 new species described in the Mekong region, including 29 species previously unknown to science, two new species of birds, ten reptiles, five mammals, 96 amphibians and six new plants Mekong region contains 16 WWF Global 200 ecoregions, the largest concentration of ecoregions in continental Asia.

No other river is home to many species of large fish. The largest is the giant river carp (Probarbus Jullien), which can grow up to 1.5 meters (4 feet 11) and weighs 70 kilograms (150 pounds), the Mekong freshwater stingray (Himantura Chaophraya), which can have a wingspan up to 4.3 meters (14 feet), the giant pangasius (Pangasius sanitwongsei), Siamese giant carp (Catlocarpio siamensis) and endemic to the Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), all three, that can grow up to 3 meters (9 feet 10) tall and weighs 300 pounds (660 lb). All these are in serious decline, both because of dams and flood protection and over-fishing.

A species of freshwater dolphin, Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), were once common throughout the lower Mekong, but it is now very rare.

Among the mammals wetlands others who lived in and around the river is short-haired otter (Lutra perspicillata) and fishing cat (Felis raccoon).

The Siamese crocodile endangered (Crocodylus siamensis) occur in small isolated pockets in northern Cambodia and Laos on the Mekong. The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) once extended the Mekong Delta to the river in the Tonle Sap Lake and on, but it is now extinct in the river, while off to Vietnam and even Cambodia .

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