Xinjiang in Focus | Beaver Family In China’s remote northwestern frontier, along the Ulungur River in the Altay region, Xinjiang, lives a group of endearing “hydraulic engineers” — the Sino-Mongolian beavers. An ancient species known as “living fossils” among vertebrates and “architects of the animal kingdom,” these remarkable creatures play a crucial role in linking the natural ecosystem through their dam-building skills. However, due to habitat loss, they are now on the brink of extinction. In