Vietnam

Asia

272

Documented species

9

Parks and reserves

4

Dive sites

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Vietnam stretches more than one thousand six hundred kilometres along the South China Sea, with two fertile deltas at its ends, the Red River in the north and the Mekong in the south, joined by a narrow strip backed by the Annamite range. That range is one of the most remarkable centres of endemism on the planet and has yielded several mammal species new to science in recent decades. In the north, the karst of Ha Long bay and Ninh Binh forms thousands of limestone islets and caves, and Phong Nha-Ke Bang holds the largest known underground gallery in the world, with its own forest and its own microclimate inside. The langurs and doucs of the limestone massifs are among the most endangered primates on the planet.

The nature of Vietnam

National animal: No official national animal; the water buffalo is the symbolic animal of the country's rural culture

Did you know?

The silver-backed chevrotain, an animal the size of a rabbit with tiny hooves and tusks instead of horns, had not been documented since 1990 and many had given it up for lost. In 2019 a network of camera traps set in a dry forest in the south photographed it again, thirty years on, in one of the most celebrated mammal rediscoveries of the century.

Biodiversity profile

Sudeste Asiatico continental (hotspot Indo-Burma)Aprox. 10% del territorio terrestre protegido mediante 30 parques nacionales, 48 reservas naturales, 11 areas de conservacion de especies/habitat y 39 areas de proteccion paisajistica

Climate

  • •Tropical monzonico (Am) en el sur
  • •Subtropical humedo con inviernos frescos en el norte
  • •Clima de montaña en las tierras altas de Annamitas

Main biomes

  • •Selva tropical humeda
  • •Karst calizo (cubre aprox. 15% del territorio, con alto endemismo edafico)
  • •Manglares del Delta del Mekong
  • •Bosque montano de los Annamitas ("el Amazonas de Asia")
  • •Selva húmeda de la cordillera Annamita
  • •Karst calizo tropical
  • •Cueva de gran galería
  • •Delta fluvial
  • •Manglar costero
  • •Bosque seco de tierras bajas
  • •Arrecife de coral

Marine and coastal ecosystems

  • •Arrecifes de coral costeros
  • •Delta del Mekong (uno de los deltas mas productivos del mundo)

Flagship wildlife

  • •Saola o "unicornio asiatico" (bovido endemico descubierto en 1992, En Peligro Critico)
  • •Tigre indochino (menos de 30 individuos silvestres estimados)
  • •Mono de nariz chata de Tonkin (endemico)
  • •Langur Delacour (endemico)
  • •Ciervo ratón de lomo plateado
  • •Saola
  • •Langur de Cat Ba
  • •Douc de patas rojas
  • •Langur de Delacour
  • •Elefante asiático
  • •Gibón de mejillas amarillas
  • •Cocodrilo siamés
  • •Grulla sarus
  • •Pangolín de Java

Notable endemic species

  • •36 especies de mamiferos exclusivas de Vietnam, incluido el saola
  • •25 especies de primates en el pais, 11 en peligro critico y 5 endemicas
  • •Muntjac gigante, muntjac de Truong Son y conejo rayado de los Annamitas, todos descubiertos en la decada de 1990 y endemicos de la cordillera Annamita
  • •Langur de Cat Ba
  • •Langur de Delacour
  • •Saola
  • •Muntíaco de Truong Son
  • •Faisán de Vietnam

Notable threatened species

  • •Saola (En Peligro Critico, posiblemente menos de 100 individuos, foco de un programa de cria en cautividad en el Parque Nacional Bach Ma)
  • •Tigre indochino (En Peligro Critico, poblacion silvestre estimada en solo 30 individuos)
  • •Elefante asiatico (poblacion reducida a poco mas de 100 individuos)

Notable protected areas

  • •Parque Nacional Phong Nha-Ke Bang (Patrimonio Mundial, karst calizo y sistema de cuevas)
  • •Parque Nacional Bach Ma (centro de cria de especies endemicas de los Annamitas)
  • •Parque Nacional de Phong Nha-Ke Bang
  • •Bahía de Ha Long
  • •Parque Nacional de Cat Tien
  • •Parque Nacional de Cuc Phuong
  • •Parque Nacional de Cat Ba
  • •Parque Nacional de Tram Chim

Main conservation threats

  • •Caza furtiva y comercio ilegal de vida silvestre, principal amenaza para especies emblematicas como el saola y el tigre
  • •Fragmentacion de habitat por expansion agricola e infraestructura
  • •Marco legal de proteccion de biodiversidad descrito como poco sistematico y con escasa coordinacion de politicas

Notable natural phenomena

  • •Descubrimiento cientifico del saola en 1992, uno de los grandes mamiferos descritos mas recientemente en el mundo

Conservation

The Cat Ba langur, found only on that island, was reduced to a few dozen animals and is recovering very slowly under permanent watch. The pangolin trade, for which Vietnam is a key point on the global route, is one of the country's great conservation problems.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Cat Tien in the dry season for primates and birds. Cuc Phuong year-round, with its primate rescue centre. Tram Chim between December and April for sarus cranes.

Sources: ASEAN Biodiversity Dashboard - Viet Nam | WWF - Preserving Biodiversity and Culture in Viet Nam | Fauna & Flora - Vietnam | BioDB.com - Vietnam | Grokipedia - Wildlife of Vietnam

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