Place
Phnom Tamao
Phnom Tamao is a hill and protected forest in Bati district, Takeo province, about 40 kilometers south of Phnom Penh.[1][2][3][4] It is home to an Angkorian brick temple and to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, which Into Cambodia calls the country's largest zoo and wildlife rescue center.[3]
Location
The hill lies in Trapeang Sap commune, Bati district. Tourism Cambodia gives the way from the capital as about 40 kilometers on National Road 2, then about five kilometers on a side road.[2][3]
Temple
The Phnom Tamao temple (ប្រាសាទភ្នំតាម៉ៅ) is a brick sanctuary facing north, 7.5 meters square and 10 meters high. Into Cambodia dates it to the reigns of Suryavarman II and Udayadityavarman II, describes its decoration as in the Khleang style, and says it was dedicated to Hinduism. People come to it to pray for luck and happiness.[3]
Forest
The forest covered about 2,300 hectares of dry dipterocarp woodland.[1][5] Eco-Business described it as home to sambar deer, wild pigs and rare birds.[4] Animals from the rescue center are released into it, among them Eld's deer and Indochinese silvered langurs, both listed as endangered.[5]
In 2022 a government-approved land swap moved at least 1,180 hectares of the forest into private hands.[1] Clearing began on August 1, and after a public outcry the government cancelled all development projects in the forest on August 7.[1][4][5] About 530 hectares had been cleared by then, and replanting began the next day.[5] Wildlife Alliance gives the protected area as it stood after the decision as 2,025 hectares in all: 474 for the rescue center, 1,021 of forest that escaped the clearing, and the 530 cleared hectares, set aside for replanting as a botanical garden.[5]
Wildlife Rescue Center
The Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center is run by Cambodia's Forestry Administration with the conservation groups Wildlife Alliance and Free the Bears. It takes in animals seized from the illegal wildlife trade, cares for them and, where it can, returns them to the wild.[1][4] Eco-Business dates Wildlife Alliance's work there to 2001, and the group says its care program at the center began in 2002.[4][5] The fenced center covers about 400 hectares of large, natural enclosures.[5] Into Cambodia counts more than 120 species and more than 1,300 animals in its enclosures.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Mongabay, Cambodian Government Cancels Development of Phnom Tamao Forest amid Outcry (August 11, 2022)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tourism Cambodia, Takeo travel guide, Phnom Ta Mao (Zoo) (undated)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Into Cambodia, Takéo Province (undated)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Eco-Business, A Forest Saved? Cambodia's Phnom Tamao Protected Forest Escapes Logging but Faces an Uncertain Future (2022)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Wildlife Alliance, Phnom Tamao Forest Saved (2022)