In the coming weeks, China Daily will be publishing special reports focusing    1     the ongoing development of the country’s national park system, looking at areas coming under stronger    2     (protect) and the species benefiting from many new    3     (facility).

The Sanjiangyuan National Park, covering 190, 700 square kilometers,     4     (be) China’s largest such facility. It is about 14 times the area of Yellowstone National Park in the United States and 19 times    5     (large) than the Banff National Park in Canada. Standing at an average altitude of more than 4, 500 meters, the sparsely populated park in Qinghai Province is the ideal habitat for many wildlife species,     6     (include) Tibetan antelopes and snow leopards.

Sanjiangyuan,     7     means “source of three rivers”, is home to the headwaters of the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Lancang River    8     (know) as the Mekong once it leaves Chinese territory. As such, the parks has been dubbed “Asia’s water tower”. 2% of the total water volume of the Yangtze River, 49% of the Yellow River and 17% of the Lancang River come from the Sanjiangyuan area, with tributaries providing the rest.

Decades ago, climate change and human activity caused serious    9     (environment) degradation in Sanjangyuan, which resulted in a large number of lakes drying out and wildlife numbers falling    10     (sharp). In 2016, the pilot program for the Sanjiangyuan National Park management system was launched, and the area was officially designated as a national park in September in 2021.

Humans are not the only ones who like to use tablet computers. The nonprofit organization Orangutan (猩猩) Outreach has started a program     1     (call) Apps for Apes using Apple’s iPad. Orangutan Outreach     2     (start) by Richard Zimmerman and is based in New York City. He began the organization six years ago with the goal of     3     (protect) orangutans in the wild.

The organization started Apps for Apes one year ago. The program introduces the Apple iPad to orangutans in zoos. Apps for Apes has three     4     (goal). The first goal is to provide interesting activities     5     orangutans. The second goal is to raise     6     (aware) among zoo visitors about how smart these animals are. The third goal is to urge people to visit Orangutan Outreach’s website, redapes. org, to learn how they can help protect orangutans in the wild.

“The young orangutans are very curious, and they go to it     7     (immediate), ”said Mr. Zimmerman, adding that the iPad is a perfect device for the animal because of the touch screen technology. With some assistance, the orangutans are able to use different apps to listen to music, play games     8     do other activities.

The program,     9     was first launched at the Milwaukee County Zoo, has expanded to more than 10 other zoos as well as     10     rescue center for apes in the United States and Canada, and is growing worldwide.

4 . Last week, the Memphis Zoo held a farewell party for Ya Ya     1    (wish) her a safe trip home at the end of this month and to celebrate the 20-year partnership between the zoo and the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens, according to the zoo on Twitter.

Another pair of giant pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, living in the US National Zoo in Washington, has also raised concerns, with videos     2    (post) by netizens showing the two pandas are     3     poor condition with suspected health problems.

The giant panda is known as the national treasure of China.     4     is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, ears and on its rotund body. Being one of cutest animals in the world, they are loved by people of all ages. Fat and     5    (fun), the black and white animals enjoy eating bamboo shoots and leaves. Adult pandas, most of     6     live in southwestern China, are about 1.2 to 1.8 meters tall and weigh about 80 to 120 kilograms. They always serve as ambassadors of friendship between China and other     7    (country).

Many people     8    (special) visit China to see the pandas, which is good for the economy of these areas. In addition, they have increased the status of China in the world as people     9    (impress) with the work that the Chinese are doing to save their wildlife.

The Chinese government has always been doing its best to protect pandas from     10    (harm) or killed. We hope that one day we will have enough pandas to set them free and let them live in the wild.

In southwestern China’s Yunnan province, mushrooms mean money. In May, when the first monsoon (季风) rains sweep across the mountainous province of Yunnan, mushroom collectors rush to damp forests     1    (hunt) for wild mushrooms.     2    (join) them at the first sunlight are local chefs, village children and     3    (they) parents, and some migrant workers who have returned from coastal factories especially for the hunt.

Thousands of Yunnanese families earn much of their living from the wild fungi (野生菌) season,     4     runs until October. The 160,000 tonnes they collect     5    (annual) bring an income of about 10 bn yuan ($1.4 bn). The most valuable ones end up on dinner     6    (plate) abroad, from porcini — beloved one of Europeans — to meaty matsutake, prized by South Koreans and Japanese. Trains get the mushrooms from basket to banquet in under 30 hours. A rail service     7    (launch) last year has been called the “high-speed matsutake express”. Whatever is not sold fresh is air-dried or frozen for later sale.

“Yunnan accounts     8     just 4% of China’s land area, yet is home to more than 800 of the country’s 1,000 known edible varieties of mushrooms, and about one third of the world’s. Dozens more     9    (discover) in Yunnan every year,” says Yang Zhuliang,     10     researcher of the Kunming Institute of Botany.

The record of the    1    (tall) tree in Asia has been refreshed this week, as a team of Chinese researchers announced     2    (recent) that they discovered a giant cypress(柏树)measuring 102.3 meters in Tibet.

The record-breaking high tree, called Cupressus torulosa(西藏柏木),    3    (find) at the national nature reserve of the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon in Bome county, Nyingchi city, during a scientific investigation led by Peking University in May.

    4    (use) drones and laser radar to map the local cypress aggregation area, the team members confirmed the     5    (present) of the 102.3-meter tree. Besides, they detected a large number of trees over 85 meters high, including 25 over 90 meters. The findings have also contributed    6    the region having the highest density of giant trees in China and Asia after precision measurement, said Ren Yu,    7    is a team member from Peking University.

Mainly distributed in southeastern Tibet, Cupressus, torulosa has a narrow distribution area and     8    small population. Therefore, it has been listed    9    a national first-class protected plant.

The previous China tree height record     10    (hold) was an evergreen fir(常绿冷杉) measured at 83.4 meters by scientists in Tibet last year.

Hawthorn (山楂) trees or bushes are a familiar sight in the UK, where they are often found     1    (plant) along the edges of fields or used as garden boundaries. In May, they produce     2    (bunch) of white flowers, followed by fresh red berries.

    3     its name suggests, the plant has large thorns (刺),     4    (make)it possible for self-protection. Both the flowers and the berries can be used     5    (medical) and are a traditional remedy (疗法) for heart conditions.

The use of hawthorn as a herbal medicine to protect the heart can be traced back for centuries. Its use     6     modern times dates from an Irish physician, who used it to treat heart diseases. This doctor guarded his secret remedy closely, and it was not until after his death that his remedy was examined     7    (find) how it worked. And it turned out to be an active ingredient made from the bright red berries of hawthorn.

Hawthorn is now a popular heart remedy throughout Europe. It can help to protect the blood system that feeds the heart. Hawthorn can also contribute to mild chest pains     8    (relieve). Some specialists suggest it may also     9    (apply) to reduce the extra fat in the blood system.

Hawthorn is regarded as one of the     10    (safe) herbal medicines and although side-effects such as sweating and tiredness have been reported, they are extremely rare.

Madagascar is located off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean and is the fourth     1    (large) island in the world. Nine-tenths of the plants in Madagascar aren’t found anywhere else on Earth. Three quarters of the island’s population depends on natural resources     2    (make) a living. As a result of its     3    (rich) in species, as well as the high levels of human threat to the environment, such as logging, hunting and political issues, Madagascar is a big concern of global natural conservation.

Andasibe-Mantadia National Park in eastern Madagascar is one of the most popular protected areas     4     are visited by tourists. Natural-area tourism at Andasibe is well organised, with many local guide associations     5    (have) partnerships with international organisations and 50% of park fees going directly to local communities. Forest loss is a widespread problem in Madagascar, but at Andasibe the forest is valued for its ecological function     6     the profits made from tourism. Andasibe is a wonderful example of     7     conservation and tourism can work together to help local communities and the environment.

Over the past few years, Madagascar, together with     8     support of many international communities such as WWF,     9    (develop) a national system of protected areas like Andasibe. Conservation actions also join hands with economic development measures to address the problems. With these strong partnerships, Madagascar can make a real difference in safeguarding protected areas     10     the benefit of people and wildlife in the future.

A new record-high number of black-necked cranes, a species under first-class state     1     (protect) in Southwest China’s Yunnan province     2    (monitor) during the wintering period, since the Yunnan Dashanbao National Nature Reserve was established in 1990. The     3     (high) number of 2, 260 migratory black-necked cranes has been spotted. The rare cranes begin their wintering at the reserve around Oct. 31 every year.     4     total number of overwintering black-necked cranes in the reserve reached 1, 926 in 2021.

The reserve,     5     (locate) in the Zhaoyang district of Zhaotong city, is the most significant wintering habitat     6     transfer station for migratory black-necked cranes on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It also boasts China’s largest quantity distribution per unit area of the species.

Over recent years, the reserve has made a determined effort     7     (implement) conservation measures, such     8     wetland protection and restoration, and the construction of food source bases,     9     will steadily improve its ecological environment for migratory birds.

During the past three years, an average of over 1, 500 black-necked cranes were spotted arriving at the reserve for wintering, while the numbers of     10     migratory birds were also on the rise thanks to these local conservation efforts.