Category World Famous National Parks

Slipper orchid is a sub-family of the orchids of which, the lip of the flower is slipper shaped. If you want to see the white Ang Thong lady’s slipper orchids, you ned to travel to Thailand’s Ang Thong National Marine Park.

Ang Thong is an archipelago of 42 islands out of which at least 40 are uninhabited. It has limestone mountains, thick jungle, white-sand beaches, waterfalls and hidden caves and lakes. One could find scores of exotic plants and animals in around hundred kilometres of protected sea and land.

Ang Thong is rich in marine life. Apart from a variety of fish, one can also spot brown seaweed, crabs, sea fans, clams and mussels. The animal species are limited; 16 mammal, around 50 bird, 14 reptile and 5 amphibian species can be found here.

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Gunung Mulu National Park is one of a kind. Seventeen vegetation zones exist within the Park zones exist within the Park which spans less than 550 square kilometres. The Park is famous for its special kind of rocky terrain. Gunung Mulu, a 2,377 metres high sandstone pinnacle dominates the Park. It also has the largest cave in the world- the Sarawak Chamber.

Gunung Mulu is a biodiversity hotspot; half of all Borneo’s plant, animal and fungal species can be found in Gunung Mulu. The rainforests of Gunung Mulu host 2,142 non-flowering plants and at least 2,000 species of flowering plants. The count of invertebrates in the Park is surprising; around 20,000 species that includes 360 types of spiders, 147 varieties of dragonflies, 281 kinds of butterflies and approximately 4,000 species of beetles live here.

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Hwange National Park is famous not only as the biggest national park in Zimbabwe. All of Zimbabwe’s specially protected animals can be found in Hwange. Also, it is the only place where gemsbok and brown hyena occur in reasonable numbers. It is also famous for the National Leopard Project, a survey that aims to find out the number of leopards and their hunting areas.

Hwange is home to over 100 mammal and 400 bird species. The number of animals in the Park is also relaed to the number of water holes. The herbivores of the Park constantly move and reside in various parts of the Park based on the availability of water. Even the number of major carnivores like lions are related to the availability of pans and waterholes.

The population of elephants has been increasing significantly in Hwange for the past ten years. This has put a strain on the resources of the Park.

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There are less than 900 mountain gorillas in the world. These critically endangered animals cannot live in captivity. They can only live in dense forests like Bwindi in Uganda.

Around 400 mountain gorillas live in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is half the world’s population of the species. These mountain gorillas are gentle and many of them are familiar with the presence of tourists.

Bwindi is one of Uganda’s oldest and most biologically diverse rainforest. Apart from gorillas, you can also find other primates like baboons and chimpanzees.

The forest in Bwindi is rich in flora and fauna. It supports more than 120 mammals. Around 400 species of birds can be seen in Bwindi. The Park also has a huge population of butterflies and frogs. There is abundant plant life in Bwindi; more than 1,000 flowering plant species, including 163 species of trees and 104 species of ferns thrive here.

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The flora of the Addo Elephant National Park is quite distinct. The Park is home to many endemic plants including succulents and geophyte plants. However, many of these plants are under severe environmental pressure; some plants are even under the threat of extinction.

The original mission of the Park was to reintroduce certain mega-herbivores, like the African elephant and black rhino. While efforts were made to protect these mammals, the effects they have on the land were largely overlooked. As the population of these animals increased, certain plants were overgrazed. Around 77 species of South African endemic plants have been listed as ‘vulnerable to elephant browsing’.

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The orange-hued sand dunes in the Namib-Naukluft National Park are the tallest in the world; some of these sand dunes are as tall as 00 metres and that is the same as the height of the Nurek Dam, one of the tallest dams in the world.

Namib-Naukluft National Park lies between the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the edge of the Great Escarpment. The Park consists of the Namib Desert, the Naukluft mountain range, and the lagoon at Sandwich Harbour. The Namib Desert is considered to be the world’s oldest desert.

The wind that forms the sand dune of the Park also brings in moisture in the form of fog off the Atlantic Ocean. The burnt orange colour of the dunes is a sign of their age; it develops over time as the iron in the sand gets oxidized. The height of the dunes decreases near the coast.

A surprising number of animals thrive in this hyper-arid region including snakes, geckos, hyenas, gemsboks and jackals. The lagoons also attract a large number of birds.

Picture Credit : Google