Batang Gadis is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

covering 1,080 km² in

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

province,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

extending between 300 and 2,145 metres altitude. It is named after the Batang Gadis river that flows thorough the park.Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia
"Taman Nasional Batang Gadis"
, retrieved 6 December 2013 Signs of the endangered

Sumatran tiger The Sumatran tiger is a population of ''Panthera tigris sondaica'' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the only surviving tiger population in the Sunda Islands, where the Bali and Javan tigers are extinct. Sequences from complete mitochon ...

and the threatened

Asian golden cat The Asian golden cat (''Catopuma temminckii'') is a medium-sized wild cat native to the northeastern Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and China. It has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2008, and is threatened by poach ...

leopard cat The leopard cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis'') is a small wild cat native to continental South, Southeast, and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List as it is widely distributed although threatened by hab ...

and

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called the mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through mainland Southeast Asia into South China. In the early 19th century, a cl ...

were seen in the park. The protection of Batang Gadis as a national park is part of a plan to create the Northern Sumatra biodiversity conservation corridor, which would be connected, via a series of protected areas and forests, to

Gunung Leuser National Park Gunung Leuser National Park is a national park covering 7,927 km2 in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, straddling the border of North Sumatra and Aceh provinces, a fourth portion and three-fourths portion, respectively. The national park, settled ...

in the north of the island.Indonesia Declares Batang Gadis National Park
20 May 2004

Flora and fauna

There are at least 47 species of mammals, 247 of birds, 240

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...

and 1,500 microorganisms in the park. By sampling of 200 meter square area, researchers found 242 vascular plants or about 1 percent of all flora in Indonesia. '' Schefflera aromatica'' is often the most common plant to occur in the

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abov ...

of montane

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

, where it is found at densities of 7% to 17% in the forest cover. The fern '' Diplazium proliferum'' is the second most common plant in this area. At lower elevations in both primary and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

it is also the second most (after ''

Dracontomelon dao ''Dracontomelon dao'', the Argus pheasant-tree, is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae, native to tropical Asia. Description ''Dracontomelon dao'' grows as a tropical canopy tree distinguished mostly by its height (reaching up to about ), for it ...

''), or most, respectively, dominant understory plant, but it occurs at lower densities. On less diverse, more heavily degraded land however, it is even more dominant, occurring at up to 25% of the forest cover. Where the forest is disturbed the only understory species more common than this ''Schefflera'' in the park is '' Ganua kingiana''. The mammals that can be found are

Malayan tapir The Malayan tapir (''Tapirus indicus''), also called Asian tapir, Asiatic tapir and Indian tapir, is the only tapir species native to Southeast Asia from the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since ...

Malayan porcupine The Malayan porcupine or Himalayan porcupine (''Hystrix brachyura'') is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae. Three subspecies are extant in South and Southeast Asia. Geographical distribution The Malayan porcupine ranges from Nepal th ...

Indian muntjac The Indian muntjac or the common muntjac (''Muntiacus muntjak''), also called the southern red muntjac and barking deer, is a deer species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. In popular local l ...

, goral ('' Naemorhedus sumatrae''),

Java mouse-deer The Java mouse-deer (''Tragulus javanicus'') is a species of even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae. When it reaches maturity it is about the size of a rabbit, making it the smallest living ungulate. It is found in forests in Java and perhap ...

binturong The binturong (''Arctictis binturong'') (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because of a declining popu ...

sun bear The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a species in the family Ursidae (the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'') occurring in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the smallest bear, standing nearly at the shoulder and weighing ...

and

Sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe hunting, local ins ...

. There were 13 endemic species of bird recorded in the park, including

Salvadori's pheasant Salvadori's pheasant (''Lophura inornata'') is a landfowl bird of genus '' Lophura'', native to Indonesia. It is found in the mountain rainforests of Sumatra. Thus it is also known as the Sumatran pheasant. The Hoogerwerf's pheasant is usually t ...

and Schneider's pitta. Amphibians include the caecilian '' Ichtyopis glutinosa'' and the

long-nosed horned frog The long-nosed horned frog (''Pelobatrachus nasutus''), also known as the Malayan horned frog or Malayan leaf frog is a species of frog restricted to the rainforest areas of southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia to Singapore, Sumatra, and Bor ...

, etc. In 2008 the population of

s has been estimated to be between ca. 30 to 100. In 2013 their number has been estimated to be between 23-76, or 20% of the total population.Vidal, John
"Industry, fires and poachers shrink Sumatran tigers' last stronghold"
in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 26 May 2013

Conservation and threats

Parts of the forest within the national park have been protected by the Dutch colonial government in 1921. The proposal for a national park has been submitted by the local government in 2003. Batang Gadis National Park has been declared in 2004. The wildlife in the park is threatened by poaching, and encroachment by an Australian gold mining company that holds a 200,000-hectare concession that overlaps with the national park.

References

{{authority control National parks of Indonesia Protected areas of Sumatra Protected areas established in 2004 Geography of North Sumatra Tourist attractions in North Sumatra