Hlawga Park is an open zoo in

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 ...

Yangon Region Yangon Region(, ; formerly Rangoon Division and Yangon Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar. Located in the heart of Lower Myanmar, the division is bordered by Bago Region to the north and east, the Gulf of Martaban to the south, ...

, covering that was established in 1982. It was created to protect

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

, mixed deciduouss and swamp forest and for environmental education. Located in

Mingaladon Township Mingaladon Township ( my, မင်္ဂလာဒုံ မြို့နယ် ) is located in the northernmost part of Yangon, Myanmar. The township comprises 31 wards, and shares borders with Hmawbi Township in the north, North Okkalapa Towns ...

, it is jointly managed by the Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division and private enterprises. The nature park is close to

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

and includes an 818-acre (313 hectare) wildlife park, a 62-acre (25-hectare) mini-zoo and a 660-acre (267-hectare) buffer zone.

History

The park embraces the catchment area of the Zokanabe Lake, an extension dam built in 1921–24 to reinforce the greater Hlawga Lake which has supplied water to Yangon since 1904. The park was established in 1982 with joint-funding by the UNDP and the Burmese government in order to protect the forests and vegetative cover in the catchment of Hlawga Lake, and to establish a representative collection of Burmese indigenous wildlife species of mammals, reptiles and birds, in their natural habitats.

Attractions

Wildlife

The wildlife park is home to various types of deer (

eld's deer Eld's deer (''Rucervus eldii'' or ''Panolia eldii''Pitraa, Fickela, Meijaard, Groves (2004). ''Evolution and phylogeny of old world deer.'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 33: 880–895.), also known as the thamin or brow-antlered deer, is ...

hog deer ''Axis'' is a genus of deer occurring in South and Southeast Asia. As presently defined by most authorities, four species are placed in the genus. Three of the four species are called hog deer. The genus name is a word mentioned in Pliny the Eld ...

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 ...

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 ...

), as well as

rhesus monkey The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally ...

pythons The Pythonidae, commonly known as pythons, are a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia. Among its members are some of the largest snakes in the world. Ten genera and 42 species are currently recognized. Distribution ...

, and

pangolin Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (, from Ancient Greek ϕολιδωτός – "clad in scales"). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: '' Manis'', ''Phataginus'', and '' Smuts ...

. Their natural habitats consists of semi-evergreen forests, mixed deciduous forests, and swamp forests. According to a 1992 survey, the park was home to at least 21 species of mammals, 145 species of birds and 8 species of reptiles. Barking deer, hog deer and wild boar are the most common mammal species. Slow lores, pangolin and a few species of jungle cats used to roam the park at night feeding on figs, which is abundantly found in the park. The semi-evergreen type of vegetation creates ideal habitats for a variety of reptiles from

monitor lizards Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recogn ...

to cobra, and

krait ''Bungarus'' is a genus of venomous elapid snakes, the kraits ("krait" is pronounced , rhyming with "kite"), found in South and Southeast Asia. The genus ''Bungarus'' has 16 species. Distribution Kraits are found in tropical Asia, from near Ira ...

( Bungarus fasciatus) to

(Python reticulatus).

Birds

Resident and migratory birds are abundant inside the park. Identified species include: the

jungle fowl Junglefowl are the only four living species of bird from the genus ''Gallus'' in the bird order Galliformes, and occur in parts of South and Southeast Asia. They diverged from their common ancestor about 4–6 million years ago. Although origin ...

(''Gallus gallus''),

red-vented bulbul The red-vented bulbul (''Pycnonotus cafer'') is a member of the bulbul family of passerines. It is a resident breeder across the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka extending east to Burma and parts of Bhutan and Nepal. It has been introduc ...

(''Pycnonotus cafer''),

lesser whistling duck The lesser whistling duck (''Dendrocygna javanica''), also known as Indian whistling duck or lesser whistling teal, is a species of whistling duck that breeds in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They are nocturnal feeders that during ...

(''Dendrocygna javanica''),

Asian openbill stork The Asian openbill or Asian openbill stork (''Anastomus oscitans'') is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. This distinctive stork is found mainly in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is greyish or white with glossy b ...

(''Anastomus oscitans''),

black-crowned night heron The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax''), or black-capped night heron, commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and N ...

(''Nycticonax nycticorax'') and

white-throated babbler The white-throated babbler (''Argya gularis'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is endemic to Myanmar. This species was formerly placed in the genus ''Turdoides'' but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular p ...

(''Turdoides gularis''). Black-headed Bulbul ( '' Pycnonotus atriceps)

Flora

The evergreen forest contains at least 295 species of plants. Common species are dipterocarps and ''

Lagerstroemia speciosa ''Lagerstroemia speciosa'' (giant crepe-myrtle, Queen's crepe-myrtle, banabá plant, or pride of India) is a species of ''Lagerstroemia'' native to tropical southern Asia. It is a deciduous tree with bright pink to light purple flowers. Etymolo ...

''. Also found are deciduous species such as

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 ...

(''Tectona grandis'') and binga (''Mitragyna rotundifolia''), and medicinal plants such as sindonma-nwe (''Tinospora cordifolia'').

Mini-zoo

The mini-zoo has small mammals, birds, tigers, leopards, bears and estuarine crocodiles in large spacious cages, avaries and moated enclosures.

Activities

Visitors can go on a safari-style bus ride or an elephant ride through the park, hiking on jungle trails, boating on the lake, and/or bird watching. However, most local visitors use the park's picnic areas. The park is divided into three zones: a rest and retreat zone, an adventure and recreation zone, and an education and hobby zone. The rest and retreat zone features forest eco-lodges, boat houses and a health spa resort. The adventure and recreation zone has facilities for jungle trekking, bird watching and wild life safaris, as well as a camping ground and training areas for mountain climbing and parachuting. The education and hobby zone includes a timber species display center, a butterfly park, an insect kingdom, a reptile park and fishing spots.

Climate

Located in coastal

Yangon Division Yangon Region(, ; formerly Rangoon Division and Yangon Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar. Located in the heart of Lower Myanmar, the division is bordered by Bago Region to the north and east, the Gulf of Martaban to the south, ...

, the park has a

monsoonal A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscill ...

climate. Annual average rainfall is about 95 inches (240 cm) most of which is received between late May and October. The coolest months are from November to February (average high: 32C and average low: 18C) and the hottest months are from March to May (average high: 37C and average min: 24C). The mean relative humidity is 87%.

References

{{authority control National parks of Myanmar Yangon Protected areas established in 1982 1982 establishments in Burma