Unspoilt beauty lies at the west end of the fabled island of Bali: lush green forests, picturesque mountain range, crystal clear blue water, and vast stretches of pristine beaches, those are what await at the West Bali National Park. Home to over a hundred species of wildlife, the national park is best known as the sanctuary of the exotic white Bali Starling , an endemic iconic bird of the island of the gods.
Located in the most north-westerly point of Bali, the national park includes the whole area of the Prapat Agung Peninsula, and large swathes of land around the towns of Gilimanuk, Cekik and Banyuwedang which lie in the regencies of Jembrana and Buleleng. This national park is approximately 100Km from Bali’s capital city, Denpasar, or about 50 km west from the northern city of Singaraja, capital of Buleleng regency.
West Bali National Park has a total area of 19,002.89 hectares, covering 15,587.89 hectares of land and 3,415 hectares of water. The habitat is very varied with rainforests, dry savannas, acacia scrubs and lowland forests, as well as more montane forests in the higher region. There are also some pockets of dense mangrove forests. In the north of the park is an obvious north jutting peninsula called Prapat Agung. Around this peninsula are long stretches of protected beach and offshore coral reefs as well as a small offshore island called Menjangan . The latter is a very popular diving destination.
One hundred and sixty species of birds have been recorded in the park, including the near extinct Bali Starling (Leucopsar rothschildi), Bali's only endemic vertebrate species,the fauna icon of Bali. It was the key reason why this national park was created in 1941. By 2001, it was estimated that as few as only six individual starlings were thought to have survived in the wild, all of them in this park. Since then, captive breeding and re-introduction efforts have continued apace, but poaching pressures remain a large problem. With that in mind, a second re-introduction program was started in the remote regions of Nusa Penida, off the coast of Sanur Beach in 2004. In June 2011, West Bali National Park received 60 endangered Bali Starling for release, 40 from the Surabaya Zoo and 20 from Taman Safari Indonesia . Keen birdwatchers can find a checklist of likely species and their status here.
Among some other fauna found in the National park are: the Wild Bull ( Banteng), Barn Swallow, Black-naped Oriole, Black Racket-tailed Treepie, Crested Serpent-eagle, Crested Treeswift, Dollarbird, Hawksbill Turtle, Indian Muntjac, Java Sparrow, Javan macaque (Lutung), Large Flying Fox, Leopard Cat, Lesser Adjutant, Long-tailed Shrike, Milky Stork, Pacific Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Menjangan Wild Deer, Sacred Kingfisher, Savanna Nightjar, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Water Monitor, Wild Boar, Yellow-vented Bulbul, and many more.
