Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park is a

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

covering . It was established in 1989 and is listed as one of the

ASEAN Heritage Parks ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP) are selected protected areas in the ASEAN region that are known for their unique biodiversity and ecosystems, wilderness and outstanding values in scenic, cultural, educational, research, recreational and tourism. Its vi ...

. It spans an elevation of in the

Kani KANI (1500 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Gospel format. Licensed to Wharton, Texas, United States, it serves the Houston, Texas area. The station is currently owned by Martin Broadcasting. History KANI was first proposed, and a constru ...

and

Mingin Township Mingin Township is a township of Kale District in Sagaing Division of Burma (Myanmar). The principal town and administrative seat is Mingin (Minking). Borders Mingin Township is bordered

s in

Sagaing Region Sagaing Region ( my, စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and lon ...

History

In 1893, this mountainous area between the

Chindwin , , image = Homalin aerial.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = The Chindwin at Homalin. The smaller, meandering Uyu River can be seen joining the Chindwin. , map = Irrawaddyrivermap.jpg , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption ...

and Myittha Rivers was declared a reserved forest and selectively logged for

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

. It was little disturbed when surveyors of the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

and the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

visited it in the early 1980s, who were invited by the Government of Myanmar to assist in identifying suitable areas for national parks and nature reserves. In 1984, they proposed to establish a tract of as Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park. Its name honours a legendary monk who lived there in historical times. The national park was

gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspaper ...

d in 1989 and demarcated with an area of . Its actual area reported by Myanmar's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation is .

Biodiversity

Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park harbours foremost

mixed deciduous forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discon ...

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zo ...

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

forest with 165 tree species and 39 species of medicinal plants.

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...

(''Elephas maximus''),

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...

(''Bos gaurus''),

Himalayan black bear The Himalayan black bear (''Ursus thibetanus laniger'') is a subspecies of the Asian black bear found in the Himalayas of India, Bhutan, Nepal, China, and Pakistan. Description It is distinguished from '' U. t. thibetanus'' by its longer, thicke ...

(''Ursus thibetanus''),

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 ...

(''Helarctos malayanus''),

dhole The dhole (''Cuon alpinus''; ) is a canid native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. Other English names for the species include Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, red wolf, and mountain wolf. It ...

(''Cuon alpinus''), sambar deer (''Cervus unicolor''),

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 ...

(''Muntiacus muntjak''),

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

(''Sus scrofa''),

Indian crested porcupine The Indian crested porcupine (''Hystrix indica'') is a hystricomorph rodent species native to southern Asia and the Middle East. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It belongs to the Old World porcupine family, Hystricidae. De ...

(''Hystrix indica'') and

black giant squirrel The black giant squirrel or Malayan giant squirrel (''Ratufa bicolor'') is a large tree squirrel in the genus '' Ratufa'' native to the Indomalayan zootope. It is found in forests from northern Bangladesh, northeast India, eastern Nepal, Bhutan, ...

(''Ratufa bicolor'') were sighted during a

transect A transect is a path along which one counts and records occurrences of the objects of study (e.g. plants). There are several types of transect. Some are more effective than others. It requires an observer to move along a fixed path and to count ...

survey in January 1999. The elephant population was estimated at between two and 41 individuals in 2003, based on dung surveys conducted over three years. Wildlife recorded during a

camera trap A camera trap is a camera that is automatically triggered by a change in some activity in its vicinity, like presence of an animal or a human being. It is typically equipped with a motion sensor – usually a passive infrared (PIR) senso ...

survey in 1999 comprised

yellow-throated marten The yellow-throated marten (''Martes flavigula'') is a marten species native to Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to its wide distribution, evidently relatively stable population, occurrence in a number of protected are ...

(''Martes flavigula''),

Asian palm civet The Asian palm civet (''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''), also called common palm civet, toddy cat and musang, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, it is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern as it accommodates to a broad rang ...

(''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''),

large Indian civet The large Indian civet (''Viverra zibetha'') is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The global population is considered decreasing mainly because of trapping-driven declines in heavi ...

(''Viverra zibetha''),

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 ...

(''Viverricula indica''),

hog badger Hog badgers are three species of mustelid in the genus ''Arctonyx''. They represent one of the two genera in the subfamily Melinae, alongside the true badgers (genus '' Meles''). Taxonomy ''Arctonyx'' was formerly considered a monotypic genus ...

(''Arctonyx collaris''),

crab-eating mongoose The crab-eating mongoose (''Urva urva'') is a mongoose species ranging from the northeastern Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia to southern China and Taiwan. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Taxonomy ''Gulo urva'' was th ...

(''Herpestes urva''), leopard (''Panthera pardus''),

Asiatic 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 poac ...

(''Catopuma temminckii'') and

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 ...

(''Prionailurus bengalensis''). In 2000, the bent-toed gecko '' Cyrtodactylus annandalei'' was discovered in the national park and described as a new species in 2003. It is sympatric with '' Cyrtodactylus slowinskii''. Oriental leaf-toed gecko (''Hemidactylus bowringii''), Brooke's house gecko (''H. brookii''),

common house gecko The common house gecko (''Hemidactylus frenatus'') is a gecko native to South and Southeast Asia. It is also known as the Asian house gecko, Pacific house gecko, wall gecko, house lizard, tayoto, chipkali or moon lizard. Most geckos are nocturn ...

(''H. frenatus''),

Indo-Pacific gecko The Indo-Pacific gecko (''Hemidactylus garnotii'') also known as Garnot's house gecko, the fox gecko, or the Assam greyish brown gecko, is a species of gecko found in India, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, Australia, and throughout Polynesia. A ...

(''H. garnotii'') and flat-tailed house gecko (''H. platyurus'') also live in the national park.

References

External links

* * {{authority control National parks of Myanmar Protected areas established in 1989 Important Bird Areas of Myanmar Sagaing Region ASEAN heritage parks