Kirirom National Park
Encyclopedia
Kirirom National Park is a national park
in Cambodia
. It is located mostly in Phnom Sruoch District
, Kampong Speu Province, while a smaller section is in neighboring Koh Kong Province
.
.
It is located 112 km from Phnom Penh
off National Highway 4
on the road to Sihanoukville
.
Lying at 675m (2,215 ft) above sea level, Kirirom was Cambodia's first officially designated national park.
It contains many footpaths through the forests with a number of small lakes and waterfalls and was once used as a refuge by the Khmer Rouge
.
Among the animals in the park, the following deserve mention: Asian elephant
, deer
, Gaur
, Banteng
, leopard
, Spotted Linsang
, Pileated Gibbon
and tiger
.
Kirirom is now a popular recreation site. Within driving distance of Phnom Penh
, on weekends a significant number of people travel to the park. Many vendors sell various types of food, though some visitors prefer to bring picnic lunches.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. It is located mostly in Phnom Sruoch District
Phnom Sruoch District
Phnom Sruoch District is a district located in Kampong Speu Province in central Cambodia.-Ecology:The largest surface of Kirirom National Park is part of Phnom Sruoch District, Kampong Speu, while another section is in neighboring Koh Kong Province....
, Kampong Speu Province, while a smaller section is in neighboring Koh Kong Province
Koh Kong Province
Koh Kong is a province of Cambodia. The name means "Kŏng Island Province". Its capital is Koh Kong.-Geography:The most south-western province of Cambodia, Koh Kong has a long undeveloped coastline and a mountainous, forested and largely inaccessible interior which embraces part of the Cardamom...
.
Legend
The meaning of "Kirirom" is "Happy Mountain". This name was given to the area by King Monivong in the 1930s. The ancient name of the place was Phnom Vorvong Sorvong for the main two hills there were connected with the Cambodian popular legend about two heroic princely brothers, Vorvong and Sorvong.Description
The park extends over the eastern part of the Cardamom MountainsCardamom Mountains
The Krâvanh Mountains, literally the "Cardamom Mountains" , is a mountain range in the south west of Cambodia, jutting into southeastern Thailand.-Location and description:...
.
It is located 112 km from Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
off National Highway 4
National Highway 4 (Cambodia)
National Highway 4 or National Road No.4 is one of the national highways of Cambodia. With a length of , it connects the capital of Phnom Penh with Sihanoukville in the south-west. Sihanoukville is the only sea international port of Cambodia. In consequence, NH4 is one of the most important...
on the road to Sihanoukville
Sihanoukville
Sihanoukville , also known as Kampong Saom, is a province in southern Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. This port city is a growing Cambodian urban center, located southwest of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. The province is named after King Father Norodom Sihanouk and grew up around the...
.
Lying at 675m (2,215 ft) above sea level, Kirirom was Cambodia's first officially designated national park.
It contains many footpaths through the forests with a number of small lakes and waterfalls and was once used as a refuge by the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
.
Among the animals in the park, the following deserve mention: Asian elephant
Asian Elephant
The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....
, deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
, Gaur
Gaur
The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...
, Banteng
Banteng
The banteng , also known as tembadau, is a species of wild cattle found in Southeast Asia.Banteng have been domesticated in several places in Southeast Asia, and there are around 1.5 million domestic banteng, which are called Bali cattle. These animals are used as working animals and for their meat...
, leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
, Spotted Linsang
Spotted Linsang
The Spotted Linsang is a linsang found in the forests of the central and eastern Himalaya. It is short, light coloured terrestrial mammal, with a slender body, a pointed head and small limbs. It stalks its prey by crawling on its belly, when it is often mistaken for a python or other heavy-built,...
, Pileated Gibbon
Pileated Gibbon
The pileated gibbon is a primate in the Hylobatidae or gibbon family.The pileated gibbon has sexual dimorphism in fur coloration: males have a purely black fur, while the females have a white-grey colored fur with only the belly and head black...
and tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
.
Kirirom is now a popular recreation site. Within driving distance of Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
, on weekends a significant number of people travel to the park. Many vendors sell various types of food, though some visitors prefer to bring picnic lunches.