Alaungdaw Kathapa

Infobox Protected area
name = Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park
iucn_category = II


caption =
coords = 95ˈ 32' East 23ˈ 36' North
location = Mingin township, Sagaing Division , Myanmar. 1570 km north by north-west of Yangon
area = 1,605 km² (160,500 hectares)
established = 21st July 1893 as Patolon Reserved Forest, 1941 as Alaungdaw Kathapa Wild Life Reserve

The Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park, with an area of 1,605 square kilometers, is the largest national park in Myanmar (also known as Burma). The park consists of the Patolon Reserved Forest and the adijoining Taungdwin Reserved Forest.

History

The Patolon reserved Forest was originally established on 21st July 1893 and the Taungdwin Reserved Forest was established effective on 1st Dec: 1893. It was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1941 by the then British Colonial Government, and was upgraded into a national park in 1984.

Etymology

The National Park is named after one of Buddha’s saintly disciples, Maha Kathapa (Maha Kassapa). A shrine dedicated to Alaungdaw Kathapa (literally, the embryo-Kathapa) is located inside the park boundaries, and this, the national park was named after the shire. The shrine has a reclining figure called Kathapa and it is believed that his remains are kept under the shire.

Topography

The area of the National Park comprise the upper catchment basins of the Patolon and Taungdwin rivers, both of which are northward valleys separated from each other and from adjoining valleys to the west and east by long North-South ridges at an elevation of about 2000 to over 4000 ft. These parallel ridges are major features of the area and are characterized by fairly steep escapments on the eastern face and a moderate slope on the west.

The prominent Mahudaung is the easternmost ridge, forming the Watershed between the Patolon/ Petpa drainage to the west and the broad settled balley of the Chindwin. This stretches to the Letapadaung in the Southern jpart where it averages about 3000ft in elevation and Modaung further north, where it reaches just over 4000 ft. This is the watershed between the Patolon/ Petpa and the Taungdwin valleys. Further west beyond the Taungdwin, another outstanding ridge Ponnyadaung is somewhat higher than the other ridges about 3500ft, over its length of some 20 miles and reaching 4263 feet at Hlaingma Taung the highest point.

The eastern portion of the park is chained by the Patolon and several tributories of which the largest is the Petpa chaung, and the western portion by the somewhat smaller Taungdwin chaung. Both rivers arperennial flowing through generally to steep sided balleys, with much exposed rocks, large boulders some as large as a house along the stream beds. In the rainy season there are numerous small waterfalls especially in the upper reaches of the patolon/ petpa draimage in the hot season ( March/ May) many of the smaller side streams dry up but although the level of the patolon / petpa and Taungdwin is low, there is ample water in deep rock pools, which is a significant features of these rivers and some of their large tributories. There are also perennial springs particularly in the headwaters of the paya/ Ngayandwin chaung to the south of the Alaungdaw Kathapa park.

Flora

Sagaing Division lies at the north of Myanmar's temperate dry zone. The Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park comprises of two biomes : Temperate broadleaf and mixed and temperate coniferous forests.

The forests which exist in the national park are specialized as -

* Moist upper mixed deciduous forests
* Dry upper mixed deciduous forests
* Lower mixed deciduous forests
* Indaing forests
* Pine forests

Fauna

The park is home to large populations of wild elephants and other rare wildlife species. The most notable inhabitants are the large herds of asian elephants.

Other inhabitants include thamin, wild pig, gaur, sambar, banteng, muntjak, clouded leopard, civets, jungle cats, Himalayan brown bear, sun bear, oriental giant squirrel Indian giant squirrel, hog badger, monitor lizards, macque, barking deer and many types of bird. The elephant roam in groups of up to a dozen; 150-200 live in the area.

Wildlife monitoring by park rangers has shown the park to have a rich abundance of wildlife. Camera traps, visual sightings and animal tracks have revealed the existence of leopard, sun bear, banteng, gaur, wild dog and barking deer populations in the park. Villagers recently reported seeing a tiger in the park, which, if confirmed, would be the first sighting in over two decades when it was assumed that they had been hunted out to supply the illegal wildlife trade.

There also exists a wide variety of wild birds and fowls, including owls, hornbills, pheasants, Parakeets and eagles.

Conservation Work

The Ministry of Forestry, the National Commission of Environmental Affairs, a local NGO - FREDA (Forest Resource and Environmental Development and Conservation Association) and Wildlife Alliance carry out much of the conservation work. The Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park faced many daunting challenges to combat poaching, especially of the local deer and wild game population. The park is also one of the last safe havens of Myanmar's wild orchids, and thus, orchid hunters are also sometimes sighted.

The Alaungdaw Kathapa National Parki has a significant number of armed forest rangers, from the Ministry of Forestry. They have recently been able to turn the tide against poachers and the orchid hunters, although growing demand from China is putting greater burden on them.

Public

The Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park is one of the most famous parks with the Burmese populace. It is more of a religious location than a national park, drawing at least 30,000 pilgrims a year. The area itself is extremely isolated, elephants being the only way to enter the park and forest.

A small group of monks care for the shrine of Alaungdaw Kathapa, and along with authorities from the Forestry Board and the National Commission for Environmental Affairs, coordinate to educate visitors about conservation and wildlife.

References

* Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Department of Ecotourism http://myanmartravelinformation.com/mti-ecotourism/alaungdaw-kathaphar.htm ALaungdaw Kathapa National Park
* Aung Kyaw Sint, Minsitry of Forestry. http://www.myanmar.gov.mm/Perspective/persp1999/3-99/fie.htm A Field Trip to Yellowstone National Park
* Wildlife Alliance http://www.wildlifealliance.org/where-we-work/thailand/surviving-together/alaungdaw-kathapa-national-park/ Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park
* Travellingbirder.com http://www.travellingbirder.com/tripreports/view_birding_tripreport.php?id=407 Field Trip Report, Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park