Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park
Myanmar national park named for a legendary monk.
Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park is a protected area in Myanmar, established in 1989 and listed as one of the ASEAN Heritage Parks. It covers 541.6 square miles (1,403 km²) in the Kani and Mingin Townships of Sagaing Region, spanning elevations from 443 to 4,380 feet (135–1,335 m). The park is named after a legendary monk who lived there in historical times.
Quick Facts
- Iucn Category
- II
- Location
- Kani and Mingin Townships, Sagaing Division, Myanmar
- Area
- 541.6 mi2
- Governing Body
- Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division
- Established
- 21 July 1893 as Patolon Reserved Forest, 1941 as Alaungdaw Kathapa Wild Life Reserve
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
In 1893, the mountainous area between the Chindwin and Myittha Rivers was declared a reserved forest and selectively logged for teak. It remained little disturbed when surveyors from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations Development Programme visited in the early 1980s, invited by the Government of Myanmar to help identify suitable areas for national parks and nature reserves. In 1984, they proposed establishing a tract of 1,606 km² (620 sq mi) as Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park, honoring a legendary monk who lived there in historical times. The park was gazetted in 1989 with an area of 617 km² (238 sq mi), though the actual area reported by Myanmar's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation is 541.6 km² (209.1 sq mi).
Reader's Guide
Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park is significant as one of Myanmar's ASEAN Heritage Parks, representing a protected area with diverse forest types including mixed deciduous, evergreen, and pine forests. It hosts 165 tree species and 39 medicinal plant species. The park's fauna includes Asian elephant, gaur, Himalayan black bear, sun bear, dhole, sambar deer, Indian muntjac, wild boar, Indian crested porcupine, and black giant squirrel, as well as carnivores such as leopard, Asiatic golden cat, and leopard cat. A 1999 camera trap survey also recorded yellow-throated marten, Asian palm civet, large Indian civet, small Indian civet, hog badger, and crab-eating mongoose. The elephant population was estimated at between two and 41 individuals based on dung surveys conducted over three years ending in 2003. In 2000, the bent-toed gecko Cyrtodactylus annandalei was discovered in the park and described as a new species in 2003, sympatric with Cyrtodactylus slowinskii. Five other gecko species also inhabit the park. The park's history as a reserved forest since 1893 and its minimal disturbance prior to the 1980s surveys highlight its conservation value.
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