The Dawna Range (; ), also known as Dawna Hills, is a mountain range in eastern Myanmar (Burma) and northwestern Thailand. Its northern end is located in

Kayah State Kayah State (, ), or Karenni State, is a state of Myanmar. Situated in eastern Myanmar, it is bounded on the north by Shan State, on the east by Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province, and on the south and west by Kayin State. It lies approximately b ...

where it meets the

Daen Lao Range The Daen Lao Range (,
; ) is a mountain range of the Shan Hills The Shan Hills (; ''Shan Yoma''), also known as Shan Highland, is a vast mountainous zone that extends through Yunnan to Myanmar and Thailand. The whole region is made up of numerous peaks separated mostly by narrow valleys, as well as a few ...

. The range runs southwards along

Kayin State Kayin State (, ; ; , ), formerly known as Karen State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. The capital city is Hpa-An, also spelled Pa-An. The terrain of the state is mountainous; with the Dawna Range running along the ...

as a natural border with

Mon State Mon State (, ; ) is an administrative division of Myanmar. It lies between Kayin State to the east, the Andaman Sea to the west, Bago Region to the north and Tanintharyi Region to the south, also having a short border with Thailand's Kanchanabu ...

in the west forming parallel ranges to the northern end of the

Tenasserim Hills The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range (, ; , , ; ) is the geographical name of a roughly 1,700 km long mountain chain, part of the Indo-Malayan mountain system in Southeast Asia. Despite their relatively scant altitude these mo ...

further south and southeast. The Dawna Range extends east of the

Salween The Salween is a Southeast Asian river, about long, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau south into the Andaman Sea. The Salween flows primarily within southwest China and eastern Myanmar, with a short section forming the border of Myanmar and Tha ...

southwards from the Shan Hills for about 350 km, at the western limit of the

Thai highlands The Thai highlands or Hills of northern Thailand is a mountainous natural region in the north of Thailand. Its mountain ranges are part of the system of hills extending through Laos, Burma, and China and linking to the Himalayas, of which they may ...

. Its southern end reaches the Thai-Myanmar border in the Umphang area, entering Thailand west of Kamphaeng Phet. The Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary is in the Thai side of the range. Some geographers include the Dawna Range as the western and the southern part of the

Thanon Thong Chai Range The Thanon Thong Chai Range (, , formerly Thanon Range; Burmese ''Tanen Taunggyi'') is a mountain range in northern Thailand. Its tallest peak is Doi Inthanon, the highest point in Thailand. Most of the range is in Chiang Mai Province, with ...

(เทือกเขาถนนธงชัย). The highest point of the range is 2,080 m high Mela Taung; 2,005 m high Mulayit Taung is located at the southern end of the range.

Ecology

The Dawna Range provides a habitat for the

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

, the wild

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...

and Fea's muntjak. Endangered species in the area are the plain-pouched hornbill and Gurney's pitta. There are other rare species some of which have only recently been discovered. This narrow steep-sided range is geologically and ecologically homogeneous with the neighboring head of the Tenasserim Hills and the

Karen Hills The Karen Hills, (, Burmese language, Burmese: ကရင်တောင်တန်း) also known as Kayah-Karen Mountains, are one of the main hill ranges in eastern Burma. They are located at the SW corner of Shan State and in Kayah State, a ...

further north, so that frequently it is considered as a whole under the name "Dawna Tenasserim" or as "Kayah-Karen/Tenasserim". The Dawna Range is covered with

tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in la ...

. The Kayah-Karen montane rain forests that cover the mountains are part of the Kayah-Karen/Tenasserim moist forests

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

which is included in the

Global 200 The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...

list of ecoregions identified by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as priorities for conservation.

Protected areas

Protected areas of the Dawna range are part of the Western Forest Complex.

Burma

* Mulayit Wildlife Sanctuary

Thailand

Salawin National Park The Salawin National Park or Salween National Park() is located in Mae Sariang District, Mae Sariang and Sop Moei Districts in Mae Hong Son Province, northern Thailand, adjacent to its border with Burma. Much of the Thai part of the Salween River ...

Mae Moei National Park Mae (stylized mae) is an American rock band that formed in Norfolk, Virginia in 2001. The band's name is an acronym for "Multisensory Aesthetic Experience", based on a course taken by drummer Jacob Marshall while a student at Old Dominion Univer ...

* Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary *

Khao Laem National Park Khao Laem National Park is a park of about in Western Thailand, located near Myanmar in the northern area of the Tenasserim Hills, Kanchanaburi Province. It is a part of the Western Forest Complex, a system of protected wilderness in the Daw ...

Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary The Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary (, ) is in Uthai Thani and Tak Provinces, Thailand. The park was established in 1974, and is part of the largest intact seasonal tropical forest complex in Mainland Southeast Asia. It, coupled with the Th ...

* Khun Phawo National Park * Namtok Pha Charoen National Park * Taksin Maharat National Park *

Lan Sang National Park Lan Sang National Park () is in the Dawna Range, Tak Province, northern Thailand. Established in 1979, it is an IUCN Category II protected area measuring 65,000 rai ~ . On the Tak-Mae Sot Highway in Mueang Tak District, it became the country's ...

* Khlong Wang Chao National Park *

Khlong Lan National Park Khlong Lan National Park (Thai alphabet, Thai อุทยานแห่งชาติคลองลาน) is a List of national parks of Thailand, national park in Thailand. Description Khlong Lan National Park is situated in the Dawna Ran ...

* Mae Wong National Park * Phu Toei National Park

History

In 1944 and 1945, at the time of the

Japanese conquest of Burma The Japanese invasion of Burma was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma (present-day Myanmar) as part of the Pacific Theater of World War II. The initial invasion in 1942 resulted in the capture of Rangoon and the retre ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the eastern Dawna mountains provided a base from which the Karen troops led by

Bo Mya Bo Mya ( ; born Htee Moo Kee; 20 January 1927 – 24 December 2006) was a Karen leader born in Papun District, which is in present-day Karen State, Myanmar. He was a long-standing chairman of the Karen National Union (KNU), a political organ ...

fought against the

Japanese Imperial Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

on the side of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. Owing to the unrest in Burma and the human rights abuses by the

Tatmadaw The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include ...

, some

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for in ...

s have been established for the cross-border refugees in the Thai side of the range. The largest is the

Mae La refugee camp Mae La, alternatively spelled Maela (), or Beh Klaw (), is a refugee camp in Thailand. It was established in 1984 in Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province in the Dawna Range area and houses 50,000 Karen refugees; the number continues to rise ...

, established in 1984 in Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province and currently houses over 40,000 refugees

Landmine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, whi ...

s have been laid in the border area and this affects wildlife as well.Thai elephant steps on landmine in Burma
/ref>

References

External links

Google Books, ''The Physical Geography of Southeast Asia''The Geology of Burma (Myanmar)Picture of peak on the Thai side of the rangeKNU - Forest policy
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012065915/http://karennationalunion.net/index.php/burma/departments/forestry , date=2017-10-12 Mountain ranges of Myanmar Mountain ranges of Thailand