Category Geography

Imagine strips of mountains painted like rainbows. Sounds almost unbelievable, right? There is a stretch of multicoloured hills in China that look like painted rainbows, in Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park.

Just like a tiered cake, the landscape of Zhangye Danxia was formed by layers called strata. Wind and water eroded these layers over time and the sediment that settled hundred over the years. Changes in climate affected the rate of erosion and the appearance of the sediment. Now, when the layers eroded, a new colour of sediment came out forming anothersheet of rock over the hill. This process happened many times, producing different sheets of different hues.

We know that mountains are formed when the Earth’s tectonic plates push against each other. Around 50 million years ago, the plate that carried India pushed against the one that carried the rest of Asia. The collision was very powerful and as a result, a large mass of colourful hills popped out of the surface of where Zhangye Danxia is today.

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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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