Indawgyi Lake Wildlife Sanctuary

Indawgyi Lake Wildlife Sanctuary
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map showing the location of Indawgyi Lake Wildlife Sanctuary
Map showing the location of Indawgyi Lake Wildlife Sanctuary
Location in Myanmar
LocationMohnyin Township, Kachin State,  Myanmar
Coordinates25°07′N 96°22′E / 25.117°N 96.367°E / 25.117; 96.367
Area814.99 km2 (314.67 sq mi)[1]
Established2004
Official nameIndawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary
Designated2 February 2016
Reference no.2256[2]

Indawgyi Lake Wildlife Sanctuary is a biosphere reserve in Myanmar, covering 814.99 km2 (314.67 sq mi).[1] It ranges in elevation from 105–1,400 m (344–4,593 ft) encompassing the surroundings of Indawgyi Lake in Mohnyin Township, Kachin State. It was gazetted in 2004, is recognized as an Important Bird Area and as one of the ASEAN Heritage Parks.[3] An area of 478.84 km2 (184.88 sq mi) comprising the lake and the surrounding lowland is a Ramsar site since February 2016.[2]

During a survey in the winter of 2004, both resident and migratory birds were sighted on the lake and along Indawgyi River, including white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), slender-billed vulture (G. tenuirostris), Himalayan vulture (G. himalayensis), lesser whistling duck (Dendrocygna javanica), tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), ferruginous pochard (A. nyroca), gadwall (Mareca strepera), ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea), Eurasian teal (Anas crecca), northern pintail (A. acuta), greylag goose (Anser anser), Eurasian coot (Fulica atra), little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus), little cormorant (Microcarbo niger), purple heron (Ardea purpurea), brown-headed gull (Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus), black-headed gull (C. ridibundus), wood sandpiper (Tringa glareola), Temminck's stint (Calidris temminckii), black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus), grey-headed lapwing (Vanellus cinereus) and glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus).[4]

In 2012, an Indian hog deer (Hyelaphus porcinus) population was discovered in a grassland northeast of the lake.[5] Since 2013, Baer's pochard (Aythya baeri), rufous-necked hornbill (Aceros nipalensis), sarus crane (Antigone antigone), woolly-necked stork (Ciconia episcopus), lesser adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus), spot-billed pelican (Pelecanus philippensis), greater spotted eagle (Clanga clanga), cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus), Pallas's fish eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus), wood snipe (Gallinago nemoricola), black-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda) and red-breasted parakeet (Psittacula alexandri) were sighted in the sanctuary.[6] It also provides habitat for Burmese peacock softshell turtle (Nilssonia formosa), elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata), Asian forest tortoise (Manouria emys), Amboina box turtle (Cuora amboinensis), Asiatic softshell turtle (Amyda cartilaginea) and 93 fish species.[7] During a herpetological survey, the Indawgyi bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus mombergi) was discovered and described in 2019.[8]

  1. ^ a b World Database on Protected Areas (2019). "Indawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary". Protected Planet.
  2. ^ a b "Indawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  3. ^ Beffasti, L.; Gallanti, V., eds. (2011). "Indawgyi Lake". Myanmar Protected Areas: Context, Current Status and Challenges (PDF). Milano, Yangon: Istituto Oikos, Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association. pp. 36–37.
  4. ^ Tordoff, A. W.; Appleton, T.; Eames, J. C.; Eberhardt, K.; Htin Hla; Khin Ma Ma Thwin; Sao Myo Zaw; Saw Moses; Sein Myo Aung (2007). "Avifaunal Surveys in the Lowlands of Kachin State, Myanmar, 2003–2005" (PDF). Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society. 55 (2): 235–306.
  5. ^ Lwin, N.; Linkie, M.; Harihar, A.; Aung, S. S.; Lin, A. K.; Momberg, F. (2018). "Initiating conservation of a newly discovered population of the Endangered hog deer Axis porcinus in Myanmar". Oryx. 52 (1): 126–133. doi:10.1017/S0030605316000727.
  6. ^ Zöckler, C.; Win, L. (2016). The Survey of the Bird Fauna of the Indawghy Lake in February 2016 (PDF). Cambridge: Fauna & Flora International.
  7. ^ Momberg, F. (2016). "New Ramsar Site designation secures future of Myanmar's largest lake". Oryx. 50 (2): 202–203. doi:10.1017/S0030605316000120.
  8. ^ Grismer, L. L.; Wood, P. L.; Quah, E. S.; Thura, M. K.; Herr, M. W.; Lin, A. K. (2019). "A new species of forest-dwelling Cyrtodactylus Gray (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Indawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary, Kachin State, Myanmar". Zootaxa. 4623 (1): zootaxa.4623.1.1. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4623.1.1. PMID 31716271. S2CID 198269335.