Khao Yai and Kaeng Krachan national parks

Made a quick three day trip to Thailand to visit two national parks - Khao Yai and Kaeng Krachan. It seems that Khao Yai faces many similar problems to our nature reserves. Being the closest nature reserve to Bangkok, it is accessible to many people. There were signs that try to educate people not to feed the wildlife within the reserve and it showed rather graphic details of animals that get killed on the roads within Khao Yai. In addition, there is also motorbike racing within the Khao Yai, with big heavy bikes gunning down the roads at high speeds (you may follow developments at Khao Yai News.)

Despite the blatant abuse, the wildlife are still there. I manage to catch up with a couple of the big animals but not the wild elephants and guars.

Northern Pig-tailed Macaque

Note: Macaque is yawning

Barking Deer

Sambar Deer

Over at Kaeng Krachan, I managed to spot a Crab-eating Mongoose, which was a gem of a find since the animal is usually nocturnal.

Crab-eating Mongoose

This mongoose can be found in northwestern India, Nepal, Myanmar, southern China, and through South East Asia. Despite its common name, its diet consists not only of crabs, but also just about anything else they can catch. They are excellent swimmers, and spend a fair amount of time in or near water or other moist plots of land. This mammal is protected in Thailand under Thai Wildlife Protection laws.