TAMAN NEGARA PAHANG

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

::OBJECTIVE::

To give information about interesting place in Taman Negara

To attract visitor from all over the world

To promote interesting place in Malaysia to outsider

to help tourism industry in Malaysia

Monday, April 25, 2011

Taman Negara is the oldest protected area in the country. Originated from the legislation of Pahang in 1925, which set aside 130,000ha of land designated as Gunung Tahan Game Reserve. Then declared as King George V National Park in 1938 by the Sultans of 3 states Pahang, Trengganu and Kelantan. To preserve the land's indigenous nature in perpetuity, it was gazette separately by each state's Enactments in 1938-1939. The park was renamed Taman Negara after the nation gain independence in 1957.No commercial exploitations is permitted, except for subsistence hunting by the aboriginals (the Orang Asli people).

Bird Watching

Birds of Taman Negara

With about 350 species of birds in the whole park including Drongos, Malkohas and the Pied Hornbill, Taman Negara is naturally one of the prime birding spots in the region.

First time birdwatchers in Taman Negara often get very excited about the bird numbers they expect to find in the rainforest environment. However it should be remembered that birdwatching is not easy in the dense rainforest and birdwatchers need to be quiet, patient and alert. On trails it is often best to pause for a while and wait quietly for the birds to come to you. A seemingly silent forest can suddenly come to life when a mixed feeding party passes through.

Most birdwatchers will already know exactly what is required to make the most of their pastimes. Binoculars with 7 times magnification are generally adequate for Taman Negara.

Happy Birding!

Birding report 1999

( by Wim Veraghtert, Prins Albertlei 21, 2390 Oostmalle, Belgium / Ilf Jacobs, Molenheide 173, 2242 Pulderbos, Belgium/ Wim Veraghtert, Prins Albertlei 21, 2390 Oostmalle, Belgium)

Taman Negara

This is the largest National Park of South-East Asia, covering an area of 4343 km2. The park consists primarily of lowland rainforest, but it also has got a montane region, in which West-Malaysia's highest mountain, Gunung Tahan (2147 m) is situated. Only a small part of the park can be visited by tourists or birders, but it is certainly well worth a visit. The rainforest is said to be 130 million years old - one of the oldest forests in the world.

Miscellaneous: The weather was good, often too hot, only rainy in the last days of our stay.

About Gunung Tahan: A visit can be arranged, but almost involves a mini-expedition, as the mountain (situated about 55 km from the resort) is only reachable on foot. This means that you need a guide (costs: 500 RM for the guide only) for the seven day trek. You have to take food and tents with you. It takes four days to get to the mountain and three days to come back. The only reason why a birder could consider to visit Gunung Tahan is the Crested Argus. This submontane species can be seen around Wray's camp.

Birding: Taman Negara is home to many sought-after species, such as Storm's Stork, Bat Hawk, Wallace's Hawk-Eagle, Ferruginous Wood-Partridge, Crestless Fireback, Mountain Peacock Pheasant (in remote parts of the park), Malaysian Peacock Pheasant, Great and Crested Argus, Masked Finfoot, Red-legged Crake, Large Green Pigeon, Jambu Fruit Dove, Short-toed Coucal, Bay Owl, Barred Eagle Owl, Javan, Gould's and Large Frogmouth, five species of trogon, Ruddy and Rufous-collared Kingfisher, White-crowned and Wrinkled Hornbill, Great Slaty and Olive-backed Woodpecker, Giant, Banded, Garnet, Hooded and Blue-winged Pitta, Finsch's and Black-and-white Bulbul, Malaysian Rail-babbler, Rufous-tailed Shama, Chestnut-capped Thrush, Malaysian Blue Flycatcher and Scarlet-breasted Flowerpecker and Thick-billed Spiderhunter. Many of these are very difficult to see or incredibly rare; even during our two week stay in the park, we saw only 17 out of these 44 species.

Fishing

Fishing Challenge

Fishing is one of the popular activities in Taman Negara. Keen anglers need to consult the authorities as sometimes fishing is prohibited to enable the wild fish populations to grow. Sungai Keniam and Sungai Tembeling are some of the popular fishing locations.

Permits are required for fishing in all the rivers of the park and may obtained from Park HQ.