Wildlife native to thailand

[dazdaz]

The other posting someone made about filiming wildlife made me wonder what kind of special animals are native to Thailand?

Was'nt there a James Bond film with crocodiles in it filmed in Thailand? There must be more than that.

Regards  

[SeaVisionBurma]

Dazdaz,

There are certainly many more than that, although finding specific 'natives' is difficult for a country which borders several others.

The idea for the 'camera trapping' I posted about came from the work which the WCS does in Thailand, Myanmar and other countries.  It has to be one of the most fascinating techniques I have seen - putting an automatic motion-trigger camera in the jungle for a few weeks and then developing the film to see what 'beasties' walked in front of the lens.

WCS Thailand

Deer, bears, Tigers, monks on walkabout, natives hunting, poachers, and even elephants as they destroy the cameras while it is still snapping pictures.

But the most amazing one was the time where shot 37 on a 36 roll film, on a camera placed by the WCS fellow, snapped a great big Siamese croc walking up a riverbed.  It was supposed to have been extinct.

Extinct Crocodile caught on candid camera

Anyway - hope this makes a change from the Great Bar Girl Debate...........

[dazdaz]

I'm a big fan of all these animals, especially the Asian elephant.  There's something very special about them, that i've never been able to put into words, perhaps it's best that way.   I don't suppose you have any really good quality couchy coo type pictures of these elephants available on the web?

Are Orangu-tangs native by any chance?

I saw a picture on the web of people sticking their heads inside those alligators.  [Never sure of the difference between alligator and crocodile], anyway a little scary.

Oh and on this topic, is there a website for Bangkok Zoo, I did a quick search but did'nt find it.

Regards

[LPCustom69]

Very interesting indeed. It's good to know that with the poachers and collectors operating throughout SE Asia that Thailand still has a varied assortment of wildlife. Hopefully no one gets their cameras stolen. I think the idea of uploading digital images to the computer is the best way to rule the jungle.

:cool:

[SeaVisionBurma]

dazdaz,

Just off the top of my head I'd say this site is good, there's a photo gallery with a few nice pics in it:

Asian Elephants Zoo

There's an island just south of me in Myanmar which has some elephants roaming on it - they were put there after being taken from illegal loggers up on the border with Thailand.  Some of them actually swam 14 miles back to the mainland!

I don't think Orangutangs are found in Thailand.

Hope this helps...I guess you could also try contacting WCS Thailand if you wanted further info.  They have some great projects, and their director (a young Aussie scientist) is a good chap.

[chaladmak]

corodiles become more domisticated nowdays - bred on the farms...

but other species like tigers got endangered - on last CITES summit Thailand proposed to list tigers and few other local species as rare...

[bina]

http://www.warthai.org/home.htm

thai wildlife rescue org

http://www.tei.or.th/main.htm

thai environ. org.

AAPN.org - Asian Animal Protection Network - The Zoo Pages http://www.aapn.org/zoopage.html

tigers et al are CITES I Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.

CROCODILES are not domesticated ; they are wild animals born in captivity and some countries allow them to be farmed as 'exotics'; or their inclusion in this list is pending but never actually made totally legal: the same goes for ostriches, bison, cameroon sheep, etc.... so every year people who do raise these for 'farm' animals have to get permission /permits from the wildlife feds in their subjective countries according to each country's legislation...the same goes for the samba (thai)deer, the spotted deer, etc. that are raised for meat, horn and hunting

Edited February 16, 2005 by bina

[speleo]

CROCODILES are not domesticated ; they are wild animals born in captivity and some countries allow them to be farmed as 'exotics'; or their inclusion in this list is pending but never actually made totally legal: the same goes for ostriches, bison, cameroon sheep, etc.... so every year people who do raise these for 'farm' animals have to get permission /permits from the wildlife feds in their subjective countries according to each country's legislation...the same goes for the samba (thai)deer, the spotted deer, etc. that are raised for meat, horn and hunting

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bina

The crocs farmed in Thailand are domesticated - I think they are a cross between the Siamese croc and the saltwater croc. There are very few, if any, pure bred Siamese crocodiles in the farms. The only known wild Siamese crocodiles have been recently found in Kraeng Krachan National Park, Petchaburi. They were discovered by the "camera trap" mentioned in an earlier post and confirmed by later expeditions.

There was a story in the papers in 2003 about how the crocodiles escaped from a farm in Loei due to flooding. The farm denied any animals had escaped until a woman in a nearby village was bitten.

[ProfessorFart]

There were rumours that after a severe flood in 2000 at Samut Prakan many Crocs escaped from the Croc farm. Given the network of rivers and canals it is not beyond the realms of possibility.

There were always rumours of Crocs in the estuary areas of Chanthaburi while I was there. Again these reports are not beyond the realms of possibility given that crocs were found in the Cardamoms and surrounding areas in Cambodia in 2002 which are not a million miles away.

However as speloe points out the only place where crocs have been confirmed is Kaeng Krachan.

The sad fact remains however that inadequate policing and protecting of Thailand's once rich wildlife resources have seen many species of endemic Thai wildlife either wiped out or placed on the brink of extinction thanks to the trade in wildlife. If the bl00dy Chinese would only decide to stop scoffing it all then maybe we may see some recovery before its too late.

You only have to read some of the descriptive narratives in some of the colonial era literature from Thailand to see that as little as 60 - 80 years ago it was a very different picture.

[bina]

wrong:

there is a specific defination of what is considered a domestic animal and it doesnt include being born in captivity but i only have the definition in hebrew so will attempt to translate and repost

this of course is zoo samantics. among laypeople domestic means bred in captivity but it has more to do with genetics and specific traits and qualities... i.e. the oldest domestic animals are goats, sheep and buffalos etc etc....

Domestication is defined as a condition in which the breeding, care, and feeding of animals are, to some degree, subject to continuous control by humans. (It differs from taming in that the process of taming affects only individual animals, whereas domestication affects whole populations.) Whether the relationship between humans and the species is concentrated (as is the case of cattle) or weak (as with reindeer and llamas), some degree of biological change (morphological, physiological, and/or behavioral) in the animal is usually involved.

from melissa kaplans site http://www.anapsid.org/roleofzoos.html

my favorite one for raising and breeding sulicat tortoises...and was given as a reference in a zoo course i took at the jerusalem biblical zoo these past twelve fridays.

hope this clarifies....

bina

(im a mini zoo manager)

[toastwars]

My friend works for the parks department counting bear sh1t. Been out to the national parks in kanchanaburi with him a few times seen a lot of wildlife, the local guides are usually roasting a few interesting exaples over the campfire. We were confronted by a tiger which was a sphincter loosening experience. Thailand is teeming with wildlife in a lot of areas, But as they are not listed in the lonely planet they are virtually unknown (thank god)

[BigCraig]

Anyone know which interesting beasties can be found on Koh Chang, other than bloody mossies?

[NarrLing]

A couple of examples I’ve seen were a large fresh water turtle and an otter. Both were upcountry in Issan and caught by farmers in the local river. Unfortunately both ended up in the cooking pot. I've seen Toucans that have been caught and kept as pets too.

The turtle surprised me. Most rivers are netted each year and even the smallest of fish are caught. The shell on it was over 1 meter long; it filled one of those general purpose hand carts. How it managed to survive so long is anyone’s guess.

NL

[toastwars]

Anyone know which interesting beasties can be found on Koh Chang, other than bloody mossies?

I have seen wild macaques, the short tailed variety, usuallly to be see at the nortern end of siam beach near the entrance to siam huts. top beach to by the way

[p_brownstone]

A couple of examples I’ve seen were a large fresh water turtle and an otter. Both were upcountry in Issan and caught by farmers in the local river. Unfortunately both ended up in the cooking pot. I've seen Toucans that have been caught and kept as pets too.

The turtle surprised me. Most rivers are netted each year and even the smallest of fish are caught. The shell on it was over 1 meter long; it filled one of those general purpose hand carts. How it managed to survive so long is anyone’s guess.

NL

Not to be pedantic ............ OK I lie.

The Toucan is not a native of Thailand, I guess what you saw was a Hornbill, of which there are 9 different species in Thailand.

The Toucan is a South American bird - perhaps best known as the long time symbol of that other famous South American export ..... Guinness.

I could be wrong on any or all of the above points.

Patrick

[NarrLing]

Oops, I stand corrected. I saw my error but it was too late to correct after i posted.

NL

[BigCraig]

What about snakes and spiders? Anything I'm likely to see, advance warning would be nice, especially since my missus has a phobia of snakes!

[Thaiboxer]

We had a snake here...black and white banded, fairl thick and about 1 meter long. It's called a Banded Krait and they're poisonous. This one in our yard was busy eating a small toad and we called the security guys from the entrance to come bag him and put him someplace else. As a general rule of thumb, snakes with a pointed (arrow head shaped) snout are poisonous while snakes with a rounded or spoon shaped snout are non-poisonous...but again, there could be exceptions. That identification rule has been around for a long time.

Lots of macaques around, they'll eat just about anything and are not too afraid of people. However, they should be avoided since they can carry rabies and Hepatitis among other nasties.

Lets not forget the wildlife found right here in Bangkok...the infamous soi dogs! Not very picturesque things but they are wild.

[Marmite the Dog]

Actually, apart from soi dogs & pigeons, there's no wildlife left. the Thai's have eaten it all (probably).

[Thaiboxer]

At the previous school I worked for, the quality of the food went from pretty decent to downright awful...we wondered if they were serving barbecued soi dog and Klong Saen Saep cabbage I've never heard of any cat eating going on over here. In Miami, FL, not far from my hometown, many of the immigrant neighborhoods had some individuals who hunted down cats for the dinner table...one guy who worked for my uncle in my hometown used to eat those butt ugly Muscovy ducks with the read bumps all over their faces...every time he went to work, those ducks were hiding!

[aletta]

Nearly squashed a sweet looking creature a bit like a chipmunk today but with a less bushy tail.Know what it was ?

Also had a mongoose like mammal in the garden but i thought they were African.

[bina]

dont knock the muscovy ducks we have tons of them and wehn we have too many, we cull and they become issan style food , saap mak mak

[srisatch]

dont knock the muscovy ducks we have tons of them and wehn we have too many, we cull and they become issan style food , saap mak mak

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No there are mongooses skipping about here. And beware of the ducks..I believe they are now being blamed for Bird Flu...so things are looking up we have venomous snakes, unknown biters..scorpions centipedes and more, in the garden, rabid dogs and macaques, virus ridden ducks and chickens, dengue fever in the South..sounds like a trip to Worthing is in order!

[350torana]

Curious about a few urban birds on the eastern suburbs of Bangers. Firstly, some kinda small dove/pidgeon..always wondered if they are native or introduced? Secondly, we have a family of big black, crows, ravens? in a tree across the soi. Every morning they fly down and steal dog food . Expect them to fly off with the Shitzu one day

[speleo]

What about snakes and spiders?  Anything I'm likely to see, advance warning would be nice, especially since my missus has a phobia of snakes!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you get out of the towns the chances of seeing a snake are pretty good. The most impressive is the King Cobra - grows to 8m and is surprisingly fast for something with no legs. Spiders the size of your hand are common; the webs need a machete to cut them.

However, the most dangerous animal by far is the common or garden Thai pickup driver.

[350torana]

I am no expert on snakes, but an 8m long Cobra sounds like a fishing story to me

[speleo]

I am no expert on snakes, but an 8m long Cobra sounds like a fishing story to me 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is a good guidebook to the reptiles of Thailand (Cox, van Dijk, Nabhitabhata & Thirakhupt (1998) A Photographic Guide to Snakes & Other Reptiles of Thailand & Southeast Asia, Asia Books, Bangkok). I'm sure it said 8m, but perhaps you're right - it might have been 6m. The King Cobra at the snake farm near Patpong looked 4-5m long to me. The ones I have seen in the wild have only been about 2-3m, but I didn't have a tape measure with me so can't be sure.

Edited February 18, 2005 by speleo

[350torana]

Don't get me wrong, like i said,i am not a heptoligist, herpoligist or whatever just hard to believe Cobras grow to that size. 6-8 metres sounds like a size for a white pointer , or a bad movie with Ice Cube, Jon Voight and Jennifer Lopez

[chaladmak]

why, my wife told me it is not unusuall to have huge snakes in Thailand

[speleo]

just hard to believe Cobras grow to that size. 6-8 metres

It's worse than that...they can raise up the front third of the body when in that classic cobra pose.. 6m x 1/3 = 2m = a snake taller than me

And the venom is, to quote the book, "the most effective neurotoxin known".