Zoologists studying insects and amphibious reptiles find Jianfengling to be a natural laboratory for rainforest biodiversity research. Characteristic steep peaks in the upper part of Jianfengling act as a natural barrier, isolating some species into very particular regions. With an area of260 square kilometers and elevations reaching one thousand meters, many subspecies are quietly preserved in a natural Noah’s Ark.

In June 2013, some like-minded naturalists and I began work on our plan to launch a project called The Ark, a photographic collection of endangered species. Scientists, photographers, and even hunters took part in the project. We set up a studio in the wild and collected as many species as we could capture in pictures. With each living thing we found, from tiny insects to large mammals, we took great care to photograph them as if they were the last ones of their kind created by nature.

Although Jianfengling is a protected rainforest, poaching remains a problem. This has lead to a sharp drop in population among several animals to include the palm civet, giant red flying squirrel, and several types of monkey. Fortunately the number of birds and reptiles remain at healthy levels. One of my missions is to document reptiles including snakes, lizards, and turtles, which is not always easy. Even the most experienced researchers depend on luck to find them. One evening, a beautiful and rare black-banded trinket snake；Elaphe porphyracea suddenly appeared in my line of sight. It quickly hid in the crevice of a rock and I had a hard time figuring out how to retrieve it for a photograph without causing harm. Someone advised using smoke to draw it out, but I thought this might cause it to retreat farther. Finally, a guide placed some woven herbs in the gap and soon the snake slithered out of its hiding place. It took no more than 20 minutes to solve the problem.

The Li ethnic group is the indigenous people of Hainan. They have an amazing method for catching turtles. Usually in rainforest streams it is impossible to find any clues about the whereabouts of turtles. Unlike farmed turtles that stay along the riverbed, aquatic species quietly hide at the bottom among the sediment. Li people put a configuration of plants and snails as the bait in the river shallows to attract four-eyed turtles and the big-headed turtle. Four-eyed turtles got the name from the two spots on the backs of their heads that look like a second pair of eyes. We were able to capture a rare portrait of the turtles by using this indigenous baiting method.

Directing our attention upward to the trees, we occasionally observed the Scolopendr subspinipes mutillan. This large centipede with a potentially painful sting emerges from the leafy canopy while giant grasshoppers chirp in the forest to attract mates. A group of light grey birds dash around madly, collecting Guanglang fruits, to eat. We see palm civets and flying squirrels in the evenings as well as giant squirrels in the daytime.

We enter GPS coordinates for each tree that had mature fruits growing on it to help us find wild animals at night. At an altitude of 800m in the monsoon forest the mammals are the most active from nine to eleven in the evening, so we must seize every opportunity within this period of time. Our flashlights expose glowing eyes in the darkness, letting us know where to set up the cameras. Pupils in nocturnal animals shrink rapidly when subjected to light, giving a ten-second transition period when we have the chance to photograph and record them.

At midnight I find and photograph a pair of bright eyes hiding under a pine tree, though I cannot tell what animal it is from such a long distance. A look at the enlarged picture shows it to be a subspecies of leopard that is found only in Hainan. Compared to the mainland leopard, the Hainan clouded leopard is much smaller, about the size of a puppy, and the subspecies leopard adult is the size of a domestic kitten. It is unknown why there are such significant size differences within the species. The Hainan leopard is also not faring very well.

When something suddenly flies overhead, we suspect that it is a red giant flying squirrel, which makes its home within the canopy of the tall trees. After a bit of investigating, the crew soon discover that their assumptions were correct as they found a male flying squirrel is the largest in its category. When the squirrel unfolds its gliding membranes, the span measures almost a square meter. In just five years, the number of flying squirrels has almost been halved due to the timber industry cutting down many of the tall trees. I am optimistic and think flying squirrels can remain a relatively healthy population if the Jianfengling reserve maintains a certain density of trees.

Our herpetologist finds a king cobra and installs a small radio transmitter under its skin. This transmitter allows us to map the animal’s activities and is used as a reference for certain forest regions. In just six days’ time, this male snake travels 2.3km, averaging about 400m per day. It does not eat at the altitudes of600 to 1,000m, though his ultimate objective is to hunt and feast on other snakes. Once he does, he hides and sleeps in a cave for several days. Three weeks after release, we discover our snake swallowing a beautiful Mandarin rat snake on a path just 18km away from camp. King cobras can represent a diverse degree of regional snakes, a benchmark in the diversity of reptiles. Some of the species here have a complementary relationship with each other.

The most difficult part of creating and filling The Ark is finding each creature and getting a good picture. Additionally, the work cycle is long and grueling. As with most conservation work, time is limited and the schedule is grueling. With hard work and dedication, The Ark will continue to sail, preserving these animals for future generations.

The rainy season arrives in Jianfengling in June, and stays through September. The park throughout the rainy season becomes hot and humid, but no month is wetter than August. In August the rivers and ponds in Jianfengling truly come to life. As the rain comes down, it fills and refills the dry riverbed. In a single day the river can rise tens of centimeters or one meter within only several hours. The constant rain drives most of the river areas mammals out of the lowlands and up into the higher altitude alpine forest of the park. This leaves the rainforest to the insects, amphibians, reptiles and other water loving creatures.

Although the area of the river isn’t large, there are more amphibian species here than throughout China’s entire Palaearctic ecozone. This ecozone within China includes the region north of Mt. Qinling. Because the park area is relatively undisturbed, there are rare species that live and are evolving here. Two of these species are the spot-legged tree frog (Rhacophorus leucomystax) and Asiatic painted frog (Kaloulapulchra). During the dry season these frogs hide underground or under rotten wood in order to maintain the moisture in their skin. They also lower their metabolism to its bare minimum. When the rainy season starts, they drill out of the earth to begin the process of courtship and breeding.

Clusters of frog eggs are found not long after in the waters of the park and occasionally on tree branches. When temperatures reach 28 °C the eggs receive their signal to hatch, and tadpoles emerge. The time from laying to hatching is usually one week.

The emergence of the tadpoles does not go unnoticed by the other local residents. Insects and reptiles are eager to snap up the tadpoles. The back swimmers (Notonectidae), so named because they swim on their backs, perform a graceful backstroke as they capture tadpoles in the ponds, before draining them dry with their needle-like mouth. Members of the slightly larger dytiscidae family are more voracious – they eat the tadpoles bit by bit, carefully chewing each mouthful.

A master of the hunt, the South Channa (Channa gachua), is a unique carnivorous fish. This fish is a top level predator that can breathe air, and has specially designed fins that allow it to leave its pond and move across wet land to the next pond. This fish uses the rainy season to its utmost advantage.

There are many fascinating creatures that have adapted to survive in Jianfengling’s dry and rainy seasons, but it is only the rainy season that allows us to witness the relationship between organisms, land, and water.