Current view: Text account
Site description (2004 baseline):
Site location and context
The IBA comprises Kaeng Krachan National Park, the largest national park in Thailand. The site is located in the Tenasserim range, which forms the international border between Thailand and Myanmar. The topography of much of the site is hilly or mountainous. The vegetation at the site is dominated by semi-evergreen forest, with wetter lowland evergreen forest occurring in the interior of the park, and hill evergreen forest being found above 1,000 m asl. Several plant species with more southerly distributions occur at the site, for example Orania sylvicola, Diptercarpus dyeri and Archidendron jaringa. The lower reaches of two major streams have been dammed to form Kaeng Krachan reservoir, which covers c.4,500 ha. Parts of the site have been logged.
The site is situated in a transition zone between the Sundaic, Indochinese and Sino-Himalayan avifaunas, and, consequently, supports a rich and diverse avifauna. By 2000, 413 bird species had been recorded at the site, more than at any other single site in Thailand. Most notably, the site supports significant populations of five globally threatened species: Plain-pouched Hornbill Aceros subruficollis, Blue-banded Kingfisher Alcedo euryzona, White-fronted Scops Owl Otus sagittatus, Silver Oriole Oriolus mellianus and Grey-sided Thrush Turdus feae. A sixth globally threatened species, Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher Rhinomyias brunneata, has been recorded at the site but is thought to be a rare winter visitor that does not regularly occur in significant numbers.
A large number of globally near-threatened species have been recorded at the site, at least 25 of which are thought to regularly occur in significant numbers. Many of these species are characteristic of the Sundaic Lowland Forests (Biome 14), and reach the northern limit of their ranges at the site. Another notable feature of the avifauna of Kaeng Krachan National Park is the occurrence of an isolated population of Ratchet-tailed Treepie Temnurus temnurus, the only known population of the species in Thailand, which is almost 2,000 km from the rest of its known range in Lao P.D.R., Vietnam and southern China.
The site qualifies under criterion A3 because it supports 26 species restricted to the Sino-Himalayan Subtropical Forests (Biome 08), 18 species restricted to the Indochinese Tropical Moist Forests (Biome 09) and 40 species restricted to the Sundaic Lowland Forests (Biome 14).
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals
Asian Elephant Elephas maximus (EN)
Tiger Panthera tigris (EN)
Asian Tapir Tapirus indicus (EN)
Southern Serow Capricornis sumatraensis (VU)
Dhole Cuon alpinus (VU)
East Asian Porcupine Hystrix brachyura (VU)
Bear Macaque Macaca arctoides (VU)
Northern Pig-tailed Macaque Macaca leonina (VU)
Asian Black Bear Ursus thibetanus (VU)
Gaur Bos frontalis (VU)
Reptiles
Siamese Crocodile Crocodylus siamensis (CR)
Plants
Aquilaria crassna (CR)
Hopea helferi (CR)
Parashorea stellata (CR)
Hopea odorata (VU)
Pterocarpus indicus (VU)
The IBA comprises Kaeng Krachan National Park, the largest national park in Thailand. The site is located in the Tenasserim range, which forms the international border between Thailand and Myanmar. The topography of much of the site is hilly or mountainous. The vegetation at the site is dominated by semi-evergreen forest, with wetter lowland evergreen forest occurring in the interior of the park, and hill evergreen forest being found above 1,000 m asl. Several plant species with more southerly distributions occur at the site, for example Orania sylvicola, Diptercarpus dyeri and Archidendron jaringa. The lower reaches of two major streams have been dammed to form Kaeng Krachan reservoir, which covers c.4,500 ha. Parts of the site have been logged.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Hunting, forest fire during the dry season, illegal logging, agricultural encroachment and unsustainable tourism development are the main threats to biodiversity at the site.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kaeng Krachan (Thailand). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kaeng-krachan-iba-thailand on 23/12/2024.
