Kanchanaburi, Thailand Photograph by Tsahi Hod   Southerneastern Asia: Southern Thailand Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   7,900 square miles (20,400 square kilometers) -- about the size of Massachusetts Critical/Endangered

· A Forest Mosaic
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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A Forest Mosaic

As a visitor here, you would be walking through not one type of forest, but several. Portions of surrounding ecoregions, from rain forests to dry evergreen forests, come together in one place. Many large mammals that once lived here are now virtually extinct, but a vast area of protected forest along this ecoregion’s western edge still harbors several important species.

Special Features

This ecoregion is made up of patches of forest interspersed with distinctive limestone karst formations. Annual rainfall is high, ranging from 40 to 50 inches (100 to 130 cm) per year, with most of it occurring during the monsoon season from May to October. Although outside forces continually degrade native vegetation here, enough contiguous, intact forest remains to potentially foster the recolonization of certain mammals and birds.

	The white-handed gibbon has a sweet tooth. Its diet consists primarily of fruit, and this primate prefers fruit with a high sugar content, such as figs.

Wild Side

Well-known mammals in this ecoregion include gibbons (primarily white-handed gibbons), bantengs (a wild ox), and a single endemic bat species (Myotis rosseti). A few freshwater crocodiles roam the ecoregion’s waterways, feasting on fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Overhead, you can spot birds such as Siamese firebacks, Indochinese magpies, and scaly-crowned babblers. Larger birds include woolly-necked storks, pompadour pigeons, and green imperial pigeons. National parks even support a few serows, goat-like mammals that prefer forested mountains and gorges.

Cause for Concern

Very little of this ecoregion’s original forest cover remains, and fire and selective logging have degraded remaining patches. Construction of a new gas pipeline, roads, and housing are further destroying stands of native forest.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.