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| Location: |
Asia - South East Asia - Thailand |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Records |
| Species: |
Asian Rhino Species |
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The Tenasserirn Range forms an interesting zoogeographical boundary, with the Burmese (western) slope covered in tropical rain forest while most of the Thai (eastern) slope is dry deciduous forest. On the Thai side annual dry-season burning by the local people causes a lack of water and green vegetation, and the large mammals spend most of the year on the more lush Burmese side, crossing into Thailand only during the monsoon (May-October). The situation along the Tenasserim is not clear; many prime rhinoceros habitat areas are controlled by Karen hill tribe insurgents (KNDO), making field investigations impossible, and most of the data comes from hunters. A group of Karens from Thailand's Kanchanaburi Province reported the following rhinoceroses during the period 1958-1962:
1958, 1 male Javan seen, not killed;
1959, 3 Sumatran seen, one female killed;
1960, a pregnant Javan killed, the foetus dried and sold for US $25;
1961, 1 Javan and 4 Sumatran seen, none killed;
1962, 1 Sumatran seen, not killed (Boonsong, 1963).
Milton and Estes generally confirmed this report, indicating that there were 5-10 Sumatran and perhaps 2 Javan in the Tavoy region of Burma bordering on Kanchanaburi Province (2 on map), it seems likely that at least some of these would cross into Thailand during the monsoon.
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Rhinos in Thailand
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