The construction of the first natural museum in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region has begun.

The new museum, covering 3,500 square meters, is located on the hillside of the well-known Rishen Mountain in west Tibet's Linzhi.

"Tibet is home to more than 9,600 kinds of wild animals and plants," said Chen Jiadong, the head of Linzhi Prefecture.

Affected by warm and wet airflow from the Indian Ocean, Linzhi is covered by forest and inhabited by wild animals such as Bengali Tigers, leopards and bears.

The museum is due to be completed in September. So far, Linzhi has collected hundreds of animal and plant samples for display in the museum.

The local government has also planned a 10,000-square-meter ecological square in front of the museum, with a granite sculpture measuring 120 meters long and five meters tall.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2003)