The culture of veneration and protection extends right across Tibet
helping to preserve a unique yet fragile ecosystem
Out on the plateau there's a small creature that's at the root of much of the grasslands' delicate ecology
Despite summer snow storms, the pika, a relative of rabbits and hares
is perpetually eating and gathering grass
and digging burrows for its family
The pika's constant excavations aerate the soil,which helps the plants to grow
In the short summer
the landscape is carpeted with hardy grasses and decorated with endemic flowers
In such a frugal environment
the pika's farming helps to kickstart the food chain
But the pika itself is a very tasty morsel
Its presence has enabled an uneasy relationship to develop between two of the plateau's most opportunistic predators
the fox and the bear