National Geographic: Rain Forest Page #5

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cooler heights.

And it's here at the very top

of the mountain

that a rare mating ritual occurs.

It takes place only during

the few days of the year

when contact of cloud

and forest is at its greatest

when enough water has collected to

form the few small pools

in which golden toads lay their eggs.

These toads occupy an area

of mountaintop

no greater than one square mile.

They have been found nowhere else

on earth.

The golden males gather

at these pools

and fight for possession of

one of the drab females.

Once firmly established on her back,

a male is usually secure

in his conquest

and can easily repel

any further challenge.

Long strings of eggs are laid in

the tiny pool,

and if the misty weather persists

long enough to maintain the pool,

another generation of golden toads

will be produced.

Bellbirds announce their territories

from the tops of the tallest trees.

A pair of Resplendent Quetzals are

digging out a nest in a dead tree.

The males are considered

the most beautiful birds

in the Western Hemisphere.

The ancient Mayas and

Aztecs so revered

the quetzal that only royalty

and nobility

were allowed to wear

the magnificent feathers

in their ceremonial costumes.

To kill the bird was a crime;

they were simply caught

and released after their long

plumes had been plucked.

But the forests are going.

At the present rate of destruction,

most countries will lose their

rain forests within our lifetime.

And with the forests will go

hundreds of thousands of unique

and irreplaceable life forms

that can survive nowhere else.

Many will become extinct even

before they have been described

by science.

Their importance to

nature's balance

and their possible contribution

to human welfare will never

be known.

But at last,

some countries are beginning

to realize that

rain forests justify their

existence simply by being there.

And tiny Costa Rica, by its example,

has become a world leader

in conservation.

One quarter of its land is given

some measure of protection,

and a full eight percent

is permanently protected

in national parks.

If other nations will follow

Costa Rica's example,

there is hope.

But it is a race against time,

because in the hour it has taken

to view this film,

some 3,000 acres of the world's

rain forest have been destroyed.

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