Mu Ko Chang National Park () is in Trat Province, eastern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. It spans several provincial districts. It is a marine national park with an area of 406,250 rai ~ , including 52 islands. The most notable island within the archipelago is Ko Chang. Ko Chang covers an area of and is the major island in the Mu Ko Chang National Park, which became Thailand's 45th National Park in 1982. The park is an IUCN Category II protected area with

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

Fauna

Jawed vertebrates present around the island include

Oceanic whitetip shark The oceanic whitetip shark (''Carcharhinus longimanus''), also known as shipwreck shark, Brown Milbert's sand bar shark, brown shark, lesser white shark, nigano shark, oceanic white-tipped whaler, and silvertip shark, is a large pelagic requiem ...

and

Whitetip reef shark The whitetip reef shark (''Triaenodon obesus'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, and the only member of its genus. A small shark that does not usually exceed in length, this species is easily recognizable by its slen ...

. Among the reptile and amphibian species are King cobra,

Reticulated python The reticulated python (''Malayopython reticulatus'') is a python species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's longest snake, and is among the three heaviest. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List because of its wi ...

, Common water monitor,

Hawksbill sea turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is largel ...

and

Soft-shelled turtle The Trionychidae are a taxonomic family of a number of turtle genera, commonly known as softshell turtles. The family was erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1826. Softshells include some of the world's largest freshwater turtles, though many can a ...

Pink skunk clownfish ''Amphiprion perideraion'', also known as the pink skunk clownfish or the pink anemonefish, is a species of anemonefish that is widespread from northern Australia through the Malay Archipelago and Melanesia. Like all anemonefishes, it forms a s ...

is also around the island. Mammals on the island include

Barking deer Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

Small Indian civet The small Indian civet (''Viverricula indica'') is a civet native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because of its widespread distribution, widespread habitat use and healthy populations living in agr ...

Squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

and

Stump-tailed macaque The stump-tailed macaque (''Macaca arctoides''), also called the bear macaque, is a species of macaque native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. In India, it occurs south of the Brahmaputra River, in the northeastern part of the country. Its range ...

. Bird population include

Red-headed trogon The red-headed trogon (''Harpactes erythrocephalus'') is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae. Etymology ''H. erythrocephalus'' comes from the Ancient Greek terms ἐρυθρός ''eruthros'' meaning red and κεφαλή, ''kephalē'' mean ...

Tickell's blue flycatcher Tickell's blue flycatcher (''Cyornis tickelliae'') is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family. This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical Asia, from the Indian Subcontinent eastwards to Bangladesh and western Myanmar. The I ...

, Blue-winged pitta,

Hooded pitta The hooded pitta (''Pitta sordida'') is a passerine bird in the family Pittidae. It is common in eastern and southeastern Asia and maritime Southeast Asia, where it lives in several types of forests as well as on plantations and other cultivated ...

Great hornbill The great hornbill (''Buceros bicornis''), also known as the concave-casqued hornbill, great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill, is one of the larger members of the hornbill family. It occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It ...

Wreathed hornbill The wreathed hornbill (''Rhyticeros undulatus'') is an Old World tropical bird of the hornbill family Bucerotidae, also called bar-pouched wreathed hornbill due to its distinctive blue-black band on its lower throat sac. It is named after its cha ...

Oriental pied hornbill The oriental pied hornbill (''Anthracoceros albirostris'') is an Indo-Malayan pied hornbill, a large canopy-dwelling bird belonging to the family Bucerotidae. Two other common names for this species are Sunda pied hornbill (''convexus'') and Mala ...

Shikra The shikra (''Accipiter badius'') is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found widely distributed in Asia and Africa where it is also called the little banded goshawk. The African forms may represent a separate species but have usual ...

Green imperial pigeon The green imperial pigeon (''Ducula aenea'') is a large forest pigeon. The large range extends from Nepal, southern India and Sri Lanka eastwards to southern China, Indonesia and the Philippines. Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Ja ...

and

Heart-spotted woodpecker The heart-spotted woodpecker (''Hemicircus canente'') is a species of bird in the Picidae, woodpecker family. It has a contrasting black and white plumage, a distinctively stubby body and a large wedge-shaped head making it easy to identify while ...

References

External links

Mu Ko Chang National Park
National Park information in English.
Mu Ko Chang National Park
National Park information from Dept of National Parks in Thai language. {{authority control National parks of Thailand Protected areas established in 1982 IUCN Category II Geography of Trat province Tourist attractions in Trat province 1982 establishments in Thailand

Fauna

See also

References

External links