Animals and plants

(en.nmg.gov.cn)

Updated: 2013-12-17

Inner Mongolia has 2,351 species of plants, with 2,167 wild species and 184 types of imported plants. It has an abundance of wild mountain plants.

Inner Mongolia has 2,351 species of plants, with 2,167 wild species and 184 types of imported plants. It has an abundance of wild mountain plants.

The wild animals in Inner Mongolia can be classified into more than a dozen categories according to their commercial uses. The region has more than 70 types of plants, including the Mongolian pine and larch tamarisk, which provide raw materials for paper, weaving, rope, and artificial fibers.

It also has more than 500 herbal medicines, including ginseng, gastrodins and ephedra, and dozens of plants such as hazelnut and apricot whose seeds are used for their oil. Its bilberry and raspberries are good for making drinks and its sea buckthorn and wild hawthorn are rich in vitamins. Other plants, including lilium and amarillaceae, are used for printing, dyeing and starch and korshinskii, artemisia, and others that are useful in sand-stabilization, alkalization treatment, and environmental protection.

Wildlife

The region has 114 species of wild animals, or 25 percent of China's total and more than 50 of them with commercial value and more than a dozen rare animals.

Its 364 bird species account for 31 percent of China's total and it has 49 species of animals and birds under national protection. The Mongolian wild ass and camel are rare animals and its reindeer is exclusive to Inner Mongolia, while the regional bird is the lark. There are also many rodents on the Inner Mongolia Prairie, about 54 species in all, or 35 percent of China's total.