Cautious approach

Enveloped in dense mist, with towering trees obscuring the sky, vines intertwining with vegetation, and moss covering the rocks — the mountains' natural wonders have been attracting greater interest.

Zhang Junjie, who makes paints for artists, searches for rare pigments in the primeval forests. The videos about his searches went viral during the National Day holiday.

The mysterious allure of the Ailao Mountains has also been associated with the dangers its environment presents. A tragic event three years ago has been frequently cited as an example of its perilous nature.

In 2021, four geological survey workers went missing in the mountains and were later confirmed to have died of hypothermia.

Nevertheless, tourists have continued to flock to the area.

On Oct 6, the Ministry of Emergency Management issued a statement, warning that the Ailao Mountains contain unforeseeable dangers and urged tourists not to venture there recklessly. However, for some netizens, the dangers only add to the mountains' mystique.

Wu Fei, an associate researcher in ornithology at the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, called for a sensible approach to dealing with the risks.

"There are no GPS signals, and the scenery looks almost identical everywhere. Once lost, it's very difficult to find your way back," he said.

Wu's doctoral research was conducted in the mountains, and most of the trails he trod were created by patrol personnel.

The unpredictable weather, and the high humidity at night and during rainfall, are even more dangerous, he added.

The range spans 16 counties and districts across five cities and prefectures, including Dali Bai autonomous prefecture, Chuxiong Yi autonomous prefecture, Yuxi city, Pu'er city, and Honghe Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture.

To protect the Ailao Mountains, multiple national, provincial, prefecture-level, and county-level nature reserves have been established within its expanse.

The Ailao Mountain National Nature Reserve, located in the central and northern parts of the range, protects rare and endangered plants and animal resources and their habitats.

It spans five counties and county-level cities in Pu'er, Yuxi, and Chuxiong.

The reserve is divided into core, buffer, and experimental zones, with tourism allowed only in the experimental areas.

It is home to 86 species of mammals, 65 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 430 species of birds. Among them, 35 species are listed as national first- and second-class protected wild animals. They include the western black-crested gibbon, gray langur, stump-tailed macaque, clouded leopard, black bear, green peafowl, and black-necked long-tailed pheasant.

Several years ago, researchers from the Kunming Institute of Zoology conducted a groundbreaking study using DNA extracted from blood ingested by leeches to survey vertebrate biodiversity across the Ailao Mountain National Nature Reserve.

Spanning 677 square kilometers, the reserve was divided into 172 patrol zones. During their patrols, 163 forest rangers collected a total of 30,468 leeches.

Published in the journal Nature Communications in 2022, the study identified 86 vertebrate species, including amphibians, mammals, birds, and reptiles.

Notably, 15 of the species are listed by the IUCN as threatened or near-threatened, including the stump-tailed macaque, tufted deer, sambar deer, and the Asiatic black bear.

The study's findings revealed that species' richness increases with elevation and distance from the reserve's edge. This indicates that the core areas of the reserve provide a crucial sanctuary for many species.