One million tourists pose threat to wild life in Khao Yai national park: park official

Published on March 19, 2013 by TFP   ·   No Comments

BANGKOK, 19 March 2013 – Over one million tourists visited Khao Yai national park last year, but concerns have been raised by park officials and some international organizations over tourists' threat against wild life there.

Kritsada Homsud, head of Khao Yai national park, said that Khao Yai national park saw over one million tourists last year, making it the most visited national park in the country. However, the park's revenue from tourists was less than 80 million baht, as entrance fees were still kept low.

However, the park official said that the tourists threatened to disturb wild life. The traffic noise, the rubbish left, and the food fed to wild animals threatened to change the behaviour of wild animals, he said.

Khao Yai national park, a UNESCO Heritage, covers over 2,000 square kilometers of evergreen forests and fertile grasslands. It contains over 3,000 species of plants, 320 species of birds, and some endangered species of mammals, including Indo-chinese tigers.

According to Mr Kritsada, UNESCO has asked the park to submit a plan to manage tourism while conserving wild life. Special emphasis has been put on wild elephants, about which no thorough study has been conducted, Mr Kritsada said.

(NNT: Prach Panchakunathorn)

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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/03/19/one-million-tourists-pose-threat-to-wild-life-in-khao-yai-national-park-park-official/