Phou Xang He National Protected Area is a national protected area in Savannakhet Province in central

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. This mostly pristine forested park is home to a large variety of important animal and bird species. The park is home to the Phu Tai and Katang ethnic groups and is an

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

destination.

Geography

Phou Xang He National Protected Area is located about east of

Savannakhet Savannakhet (, ; ), officially named Kaysone Phomvihane (); since 2005 and previously known as ''Khanthaboury'' (; ), is a city in western Laos. It is the capital of Savannakhet Province. With a population of 125,760 (2018), it is the second-l ...

, near the village of Phalan and covers parts of Assaphone, Thaphalanxay,

Phin The phin (, ) (, ) is a type of lute with a pear-shaped body, originating in the Isan region of Thailand and played mostly by ethnic Lao people, Laotians in Thailand and Laos. It has frets on the neck over which two or three metal strings run tha ...

, Xepon and Viraboury districts. The park's area has been estimated at .

Flora and fauna

The park's main forest types are evergreen, mixed deciduous and dry

dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants with 22 genera and about 695 known species of mainly lowland tropical forest trees. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, Indochina, Indo ...

forests. Mixed deciduous forest has the largest coverage at 44% of the park's area. Nycticebus pygmaeus 004

Threatened animal species in the park include

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

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 ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through Northeast India and Bhutan to mainland Southeast Asia into South China. It w ...

black crested gibbon The black crested gibbon (''Nomascus concolor'') is a Critically Endangered species of gibbon found in China, Laos, and northern Vietnam, with four subspecies. Taxonomy The taxonomy of the species is confused. Previously grouped in the gen ...

François' langur François' langur (''Trachypithecus francoisi''), also known as Francois' leaf monkey, the Tonkin leaf monkey, or the white side-burned black langur is a species of Old World monkey and the type species of its species group. It is one of the leas ...

giant muntjac The giant muntjac (''Muntiacus vuquangensis''), sometimes referred to as the large-antlered muntjac, is a species of muntjac deer. It is the largest muntjac species and was discovered in 1994 in Vũ Quang, Hà Tĩnh Province of Vietnam and in c ...

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

pygmy slow loris The pygmy slow loris (''Xanthonycticebus pygmaeus'') is a species of slow loris found east of the Mekong, Mekong River in Vietnam, Laos, eastern Cambodia, and China. It occurs in a variety of forest habitats, including Tropical and subtropical d ...

dhole The dhole ( ; ''Cuon alpinus'') is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. It is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus ''Canis'' in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third ...

Asian black bear The Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It is distributed from southeast ...

sun bear The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a bear species in the Family (biology), family Ursidae found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'' and the smallest bear species, standing nearly ...

banteng The banteng (''Bos javanicus''; ), also known as tembadau, is a species of wild Bovinae, bovine found in Southeast Asia. The head-and-body length is between . Wild banteng are typically larger and heavier than their Bali cattle, domesticated ...

and large-spotted civet. Phou Xang He's large area and relatively pristine state make the park important in conserving these species in an undisturbed habitat. Other park species include

macaque The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and Europe (in Gibraltar). Macaques are principally f ...

and douc langur. Mountain Fulvetta

Bird life includes the threatened red-collared woodpecker. Other less vulnerable species include

ratchet-tailed treepie The ratchet-tailed treepie (''Temnurus temnurus'') is a species of bird in the crow and jay family Corvidae. The species is also known as the notch-tailed treepie. It is monotypic within the genus ''Temnurus''. The species has a disjunct distri ...

and

mountain fulvetta The mountain fulvetta (''Alcippe peracensis'') is a 14 to 15.5 cm long species of bird in the Alcippeidae family. It is found in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam in subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The black-br ...

Threats

Phou Xang He faces a number of environmental threats. Local poverty has resulted in hunting and forest product harvesting in the park. Some habitat loss has resulted from expansion of lands for agriculture. Road development and improvement may increase opportunities for illegal trade in wildlife and forest products.

References

{{Reflist , refs = {{cite web , title = Phou Xang He NBCA , url = http://www.ecotourismlaos.com/directory/protected_areas/phouxanghe.htm , publisher =

Greater Mekong Subregion The Greater Mekong Subregion, (GMS) or just Greater Mekong, is a trans-national region of the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia. The region is home to more than 300 million people. It came into being with the launch of a development program i ...

Sustainable Tourism Development Project in Lao PDR , accessdate = 16 March 2015 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125714/http://www.ecotourismlaos.com/directory/protected_areas/phouxanghe.htm , archivedate = 2 April 2015 {{cite book , last1 = Ray , first1 = Nick , last2 = Bloom , first2 = Greg , last3 = Waters , first3 = Richard , title = Lonely Planet Laos , edition = 8th , publisher =

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History 20th century Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen Wheeler, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 19 ...

, date = February 2014 , pages = 209 , isbn = 978-1-7432-1825-9 National Biodiversity Conservation Areas Protected areas established in 1993 Geography of Savannakhet province

Geography

Flora and fauna

Threats

See also

References