Komodo
National Park ( KNP )was established in march 6th 1980 and
designated as A Man and Biosphere Reserve in 1986.Also as
a world heritage site in 1991 by UNESCO.Administratively the
Park is in Komodo sub Distric West Manggarai Regency –East
Nusa Tenggara –Province – INDONESIA.Geographically
,It laid between Flores Island ( East Nusa Tenggara ) and
Sumbawa island ( West Nusa Tenggara )
Komodo National Park covers about 173.300 hectares consisting
of 40.728 hectares of land and 132.572 hectares of sea. There
are three largest islands namely: Komodo island is 33.937
hectares, Rinca island is 19.627 hectares and Padar island
is 2.017 hectares .Most of it’s topography is mountainous
with the highest peak is Stalibo at 735 m asl.
The weather is dry with average annual rainfall of 500 –
1000 mm.
Rainy season occurs during January – April. Compared
to the other Region in Indonesia, Komodo National Park supports
a limited number of wild plant and animal species. Only the
species which could adaptation to dry environment t hat
will survive. It could only by found about 244 species of
terrestrial plants and 16 species of amphibians.
About 70% of the park covers by savanna vegetation dominated
by grass , such as setaria adhaerens , chloris –barbota
and hetropogon confortus. Also presence of Lontar ( berassus
flabellifer), and bidara ( zizypus jujube ) Beside savanna
you also found moonson forest,cloudy mountain forest and mangrove
forest.
Coral reef of the Park is one of the most beautiful coral
reef of the world – a great number and variety of fishes
( more than 1000 species ) corals ( 260 species ),sponge (70
species and other invertebrates could be found in many sites
of this park. Species of corals in the park such as acropora
spp, favites, sp leptoria sp ( brain copral ),fungia sp (
mushroom coral ),sarcophyton sp and xenia ( soft coral ) beside
that you can also watch many species of gorgonians , sea fans
,sea pens anemones with crown fish, star fish, christmast
tree worms, clams ( tridacna sp ) crabs, etc.
The examples of coral fish is butterfly fishes, angle fishes,
lion fishes, scorpion fishes, damsel fishes, groupers, moray,
wrasse, etc.
Komodo National Parkl is being home for other wild animals
like : Timor deer,( cervus timorensis ) wild buffalo ( buballus
buballis ), wild horses ( equus sp ) and long tailed macaque
( macaca – fascicularis ) Numerous of birds such as
Lesser - sulphur –crested – cockatoo,, ( cacatua
sulphurea parvula ), Colared king fisher ( Halcyon chloris
) Timor – helmeted friard bird ( philemon buceroides
Neglectus ) and orange – footed scrub – foul (
megapodius reinwartd )
On the coastal zone and sea area you could see many species
of sea birds such as Reef heron ( egreta sacra sacra ),giant
heron ( Ardea sumatsana) ,Bridledtera ( sterna anacthetus
) and black napped tern ( S.sumatrana mathewsi).Also be found
raptors sudas white headed kite ( haliastur Indus ),White
goshawk ( Accipiter novaehollandine sylvestris ),white bellied
sea- eagle ( Haliaeetus leucogaster ) little falcon ( Falcologiperis
hanieli ) and fish hawk ( Padion haliaetes ) On the off shore,You
also could be found Blue whale ( Balenoptera Musculus ),Minke
whale ( B.acustorostrata ) Dolphins cgrampus griseus,stenella
longirostris,S.attenuata , Steno brendanensis,Peponocephala
electra,and Delphinus delphis. Two species of sea turtle that
founded are common green turtle ( Chelonia mydas ) Manta Rays
( Manta birostris ) also live in the Park. |
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