Ba Bể National Park () is a reserve in
Bắc Kạn Province,
Northeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...
region of
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, set up to protect a very murky lake (Ba Bể Lake) along with surrounding
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
and highland nevergreen forests. It is located about 240 kilometers northwest of the capital city
Hanoi
Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
.
Location
Ba Bể National Park is located in
Bắc Kạn Province, about 240 kilometers north of
Hanoi
Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
, about 70 km northwest of the provincial capital Bắc Kạn, and about 14 km west of the town of Cho Ra.
Ba Bể Lake
Ba Bể Lake (, Ba Bể meaning "Three Lakes" in the local Tay language) is the largest natural fresh water lake in Vietnam, stretching about 8 kilometers in the north-south direction. The surface area of the lake fluctuates between 3 and 5 km
2 between dry and wet season. Unlike many lakes in
Karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
areas, Ba Bể Lake never falls dry. Its average depth varies between 17 and 23 meters, the maximum depth is 35 meters. The lake lies about 150 meters above sea level, making it also Vietnam's highest lake. The name "Three Lakes" refers to the three parts of the lake named Pe Leng, Pe Lu, and Pe Lam. All these three parts are connected into a single continuous body of water, however.
The Ta Han, Bo Lu, and Leng Rivers feed into the lake from the south and the west. During the dry season, water is drained from the lake northwards into the Nang River. During high floods in the wet season, the latter flow is reversed however, and the lake takes up water from the Nang River thereby acting as a buffer regulating flooding.
Flora and fauna
The vegetation in Ba Bể National Park mainly consists of limestone and evergreen forest. The former covers steep mountain slopes on which the soil cover is thin. The latter depends on thicker soil cover and has a higher species diversity. The dominating tree species of the limestone forest are ''
Burretiodendron hsienmu'' (
Tiliaceae
Tiliaceae () is a family of flowering plants. It is not a part of the APG, APG II and APG III classifications, being sunk in Malvaceae mostly as the subfamilies Tilioideae, Brownlowioideae and Grewioideae, but has an extensive historical re ...
) and ''
Streblus tonkinensis'' (
Moraceae
Moraceae is a family of flowering plants comprising about 48 genera and over 1100 species, and is commonly known as the mulberry or fig family. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however, their ...
). Climbing bamboo (
Ampelocalamus
''Ampelocalamus'' is a genus of Asian bamboo in the grass family. It is found mostly in Southern China, with some species in the eastern Himalayas and northern Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indo ...
) is a regional endemic plant common on the hill slopes near the lake shore.
65 mammal species have been recorded in the park, among them:
Chinese pangolin
The Chinese pangolin (''Manis pentadactyla'') is a pangolin native to the northern Indian subcontinent, northern parts of Southeast Asia and southern China. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2014, as the wild ...
(''Manis pentadactyla''),
slow loris
Slow lorises are a group of several species of Nocturnality, nocturnal Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhine primates that make up the genus ''Nycticebus''. Found in Southeast Asia and nearby areas, they range from Bangladesh and Northeast India in the ...
(''Nycticebus coucang''),
rhesus macaque
The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or g ...
,
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 ...
,
François' langur
François' langur (''Trachypithecus francoisi''), also known as Francois' leaf monkey, the Tonkin leaf monkey, or the white side-burned black langur is a species of Old World monkey and the type species of its species group. It is one of the leas ...
,
Asian black bear
The Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It is distributed from southeast ...
,
European otter
The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, European river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia and the Maghreb. The most widely distributed member o ...
,
Owston's palm civet
Owston's palm civet (''Chrotogale owstoni'') is a viverrid native to Vietnam, Laos and a very small portion of southern China, in three counties located in the Yunnan province: Hekou, Luchun, and Jinping, and has never been found west of the Meko ...
,
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 Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2025, and is threatened by poaching ...
,
mainland serow
The mainland serow (''Capricornis sumatraensis'') is a species of serow native to the Himalayas, Southeast Asia and China.
The mainland serow is related closely to the red serow.
Taxonomy
In 1831, Brian Houghton Hodgson first described a go ...
,
red giant flying squirrel
The red giant flying squirrel or common giant flying squirrel (''Petaurista petaurista'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae (squirrels). It is found in a wide variety of forest–types, plantations and more open habitats with scatter ...
,
particolored flying squirrel
The particolored flying squirrel (''Hylopetes alboniger'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical ...
(''Hylopetes alboniger''),
hairy-footed flying squirrel
The hairy-footed flying squirrel (''Belomys pearsonii'') is a flying squirrel found in the mountains of the eastern Himalaya, Southeast Asia, southern China, and the island of Taiwan. It lives at elevations of above sea level.
The fur is red-br ...
as well as 27
bat
Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...
species.
Furthermore, 233 bird species, 43 reptile and amphibian species among them the
king cobra
The king cobra (''Ophiophagus hannah'') is a species complex of snakes Endemism, endemic to Asia. With an average of and a record length of , it is the world's longest venomous snake and among the heaviest. Under the genus ''Ophiophagus'', i ...
and the
Vietnamese salamander (''Paramesotriton deloustali''), have been recorded. In Ba Be lake, 106 fish species from 61 genera, 17 families, and 5 orders have been recorded. The park is also noteworthy for its diversity in butterflies for which 354 species have been recorded.
Scenic landscape features
Puong Cave is a large cave in the north of the park through which the Nang River flows. The main cave is up to 50 meters high and about 300 meters long. It is inhabited by a population of 5 to 10 000 bats belonging to 18 species. The "Fairy Pond" is rock basin filled with clear water which seeps through the surrounding limestone rock. The Dau Dang Waterfall is formed by the Nang River. It consist of a sequence of rapids which stretch over a length of almost one kilometer. Widow Island is a small, cone-shaped islet near the center of the southern lake. According to the local legend, the islet was once the home of an old widow who was spared from a flood through divine intervention.
National park and infrastructure
Ba Bể National Park was established in 1992, it covers an area of 100.48 km
2. Facilities include an information center, guest houses, a lake management station, and an ecological research station opened in 2004.
References
External links
Bắc Kạn province official siteVietnam National Parks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ba Be National Park
National parks of Vietnam
Geography of Bắc Kạn province
Protected areas established in 1992
Tourist attractions in Bắc Kạn province
ASEAN heritage parks
Ramsar sites in Vietnam