~NATURE Of KINABALU~
FLORA
The
park is known for the abundance and diversity of its plant life, within one of
the most ancient vegetations in the world. There are over 1,200 species of wild
orchids and 40 varieties of oak in its forests, not to mention the countless
varieties of rhododendrons with blooms ranging in hue from deep red to pale pink
and white! Masses of moss and ferns weigh down the trees of the Montane oak
forests of the upper regions. Flowers are to be seen every where on the trees,
in the shrubs, along the banks on the forest floor and even peeping out of the
rocky crevices of the summit. Orchids such as the white necklace orchids are as
delicately beautiful as their namesake.
The
Bornean mountain ground squirrel Dremomys everetti are often spotted
scampering about in the scrub vegetation while the mountain tree shrew Tupaia
montana are easily spotted along the mountain trails. You may even come
across a red-necked keelback snake sunning itself along your path.
The variety of birds ranges over a wide selection and over half of all of Borneo's bird species can be found in the Kinabalu National Park. Amongst them are Mountain Black Eye, Mountain Black Bird, Borneo Bright Eye, Euphrasia borneensis, and the now 'not-so-friendly' nor so easily sighted Friendly Kinabalu Warbler.
Let yourself be astonished by the sheer numbers here below:
There
are believed to be 1,000 orchid species, including at least five species of
slipper orchid, of the genus Papiopedillium. Papiopedillium dayanum and P.
rothschildianum are considered Endangered (IUCN 1997). Other important plants
occurring in the park include 608 fern species, 9 Nepenthes species
(pitcher-plants, including 4 species that are endemic to Kinabalu: Nepenthes
burbidgeae, N.rajah and N. villosa), 24 Rhododendron species (5 species are
endemic to Kinabalu), 78 Fiscus species (over 50% of all the species found in
Borneo), 52 palm species, 6 bamboo species and 30 ginger species (Beaman 1996;
Holtum 1996; Lamb 1996; Wong and Dransfield 1996).
5,000 6,000 species of vascular plants, comprising of over 200 families and
1,000 genera:
1,000 orchid species, including
five species of slipper orchids
608 fern species
9 Nepenthes species (pitcher-plants, including 4 endemic species)
24 Rhododendron species (5 species are endemic to Kinabalu)
78 Fiscus species (over 50% of the 135 species found in Borneo)
52 palm species
6 bamboo species
30 ginger species
Rafflesia
is a genus of flowering plants that is made up of of 16 known species. The best
known of these species is Rafflesia arnoldii, which has the distinction
of being the worlds largest flower, reaching a diameter of about three feet.
The genus Rafflesia gets its name from Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of the
British colony of Singapore. (1)Rafflesia is one of the rarest plants in the
world, and is only found in very few locations in Borneo. A parasitic plant that
grows from the trailing stems of wild grape-vines Tetrastigma spp some three
species are found in the Kinabalu National Park.
FAUNA
Kinabalu
Park has a rich fauna that has been studied extensively. Two broad categories of
mammal species are found in Kinabalu Park, lowland species and montane species.
Approximately 90 species of lowland mammals have been recorded and 22 montane
species mammals. Notable among these categories are tarsier Tarsius bancanus,
Malay Bear Helarctis malayanus, orang utan Pongo pygmaeus (VU), Borneo gibbon
Hylobates molloch (LR) grey-leaf monkey Presbytis aygula and red-leaf monkey P.
rubicunda and the Bay Cat Catopuma badia (VU), Kinabalu Ferret-badger Melogale
everetti (VU) (WWF and IUCN 1995; IUCN 1996).
Frog
and toad species number approximately 61 (Inger et al. 1996), while
approximately 200 species of butterfly have been recorded, most of which occur
below 2000m on Kinabalu. About 112 macro moth species have been identified,
these may be found at 2000m and above (Holloway 1996). Forty species of fish,
representing 9 families have been recorded. The most common are the
Gastromyazontidae, that may frequently be found grazing on the surface of rocks
and gravels in many of the clear mountain streams in the park (Chin, 1996).
Three hundred and twenty-six species of birds have been recorded, these may be
categorised into 4 groups: subalpine zone species; endemic montane species;
non-endemic montane species and lowland species (Wells and Philips, 1996; Buin,
1999). Endemic Bornean species such as the Kinabalu Friendly Warbler are only
found at Mt. Kinabalu and Mt. Trus Madi.
90 species lowland mammals
22 species montane mammals
61 frog and toad species (approximately)
200 species (approximately) of butterfly have been recorded
112 macro moth species (may be found at 2000m and above)
40 species of fish (representing 9 families)
326 species of birds (more than 50% of all species of birds in Borneo)
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