Cat Tien National Park (Vietnamese: Vườn quốc gia Cát Tiên) is an important national park found in the south of Vietnam, approximately 150 km north of Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnamese ( tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ) formerly known under French colonization as Annamese ( see Annam) A national park is a reserve of land usually declared and owned by a national Government, protected from most Human development and pollution Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially It protects one of the largest areas of lowland tropical rainforests left in Vietnam. Rainforests are Forests characterized by high Rainfall with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches
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History
Cat Tien national park was protected initially in 1978 as two sectors, Nam Cat Tien and Tay Cat Tien. Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) Another sector, Cat Loc, was gazeted as a Rhinoceros Reserve in 1992 upon the discovery of a population of the Vietnamese Javan Rhinoceros, an occasion that brought the park into the world's eye. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) The Javan Rhinoceros ( Sunda Rhinoceros to be more precise or Lesser One-horned Rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros sondaicus) is a member of the family Rhinocerotidae The three areas were combined to form one park in 1998. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar)
The park suffered historically during the Vietnam War when it was extensively sprayed with herbicides like the defoliant Agent Orange. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia A herbicide is used to kill unwanted Plants Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired Crop relatively unharmed Agent Orange is the code name for a powerful Herbicide and Defoliant used by the U To this day these areas have extensive bamboo and grassland cover and trees have not yet grown back. Bamboo is a group of Woody perennial Evergreen Plants in the True grass family Poaceae, subfamily Grasslands (also called greenswards) are areas where the Vegetation is dominated by Grasses ( Poaceae) and other Herbaceous (non-woody
Biodiversity
Cat Tien National Park consists of evergreen tropical and deciduous forest, dominated by Dipterocarpaceae, Fabaceae and Lythraceae (especially Lagerstroemia spp. Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF also known as tropical moist forests, are a Tropical and Subtropical Forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest Biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 17 genera and approximately 500 species of mainly Tropical lowland Rainforest Trees The family name from Fabaceae or Leguminosae is a large and economically important family of Flowering plants which is commonly known as the legume family, pea Lythraceae is a family of Flowering plants It includes 500-600 Species of mostly Herbs with some Shrubs and Trees in Lagerstroemia (properly Crape-myrtle, sometimes spelled Crepe-myrtle) is a Genus of around 50 species of Deciduous and Evergreen ), with 40% of the park comprising bamboo woodland, and the remaining 10% farmland, wetlands and grassland. Bamboo is a group of Woody perennial Evergreen Plants in the True grass family Poaceae, subfamily A wetland is an area of Land consisting of Soil that is Saturated with Moisture, such as a Swamp, Marsh, or Bog The park fauna is impressive, if highly threatened, comprising of such impressive megafauna as Javan Rhinos (one of only two populations in the world), Asian Elephants, Gaur, Sun Bears and, possibly, Banteng, and wild Water Buffalo. Megafauna are species of large Animals ( Greek μεγας large + modern Latin fauna animal The Asian or Asiatic Elephant ( Elephas maximus) sometimes known by the name of one of its subspecies &ndash the Indian Elephant, is one of The gaur (ˈɡaʊɚ ( Bos gaurus, previously Bibos gauris) is a large dark-coated bovine animal of South Asia and Southeast Asia. The Sun Bear ( Helarctos malayanus) is a Bear found primarily in the Tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia. The Banteng, Bos javanicus is an Ox that is found in Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Borneo Some accounts also list tigers, Leopards, Clouded Leopards, Dholes and Asiatic black bears, however a recent series of surveys did not confirm this. The tiger ( Panthera tigris) is a member of the Felidae family the largest and the most powerful of the four " Big cats quot in the Genus The leopard (lɛpɚd Panthera pardus) is an Old World Mammal of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four roaring The Clouded Leopard ( Neofelis nebulosa) is a medium-sized cat, 55 to 110 cm (2 ft to 3 ft 6 in long and weighing between 15 and 23 kg (33 to 50 lb The Dhole ( Cuon alpinus) also known as the Asiatic Wild Dog, Indian Wild Dog or Red Dog is a Mammal of the order Carnivora The park also holds hosts of smaller mammal species, including Yellow-cheeked Gibbons, Silvery Langurs, Crab-eating Macaques, Pygmy Slow Loris, as well as civets, mouse deer, and treeshrews. The Yellow-cheeked Gibbon ( Nomascus gabriellae) also called the Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon, the Golden-cheeked Crested Gibbon or the Buffed-cheeked The Silvery Lutung ( Trachypithecus cristatus) also known as the Silvered Leaf Monkey or the Silvery Langur, is an Old World monkey with The Crab-eating Macaque ( Macaca fascicularis) is a primarily Arboreal Macaque native to Southeast Asia. The Pygmy Slow Loris ( Nycticebus pygmaeus) is a rare species of Loris found in the tropical dry forests of Vietnam, Laos, China Civets are small lithe-bodied mostly arboreal Mammals native to the tropics of Africa and Asia "Kancil" redirects here For the car see Perodua Kancil Not to be confused with Kanchil (Lesser Mouse Deer Not to be confused The treeshrews (or tree shrews) are small Mammals native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia.
The park also has impressive bird species including White-winged Ducks, Siamese Firebacks, Great Hornbills and Black Eagles. The White-winged Wood Duck, Cairina scutulata is a species of Duck, usually placed in the Genus Cairina and allied with the The Siamese Fireback, Lophura diardi also known as Diard's Fireback is a medium-sized approximately 80cm long Pheasant. The Great Hornbill, Buceros bicornis also known as Greater Indian Hornbill or Two-horned Calao, is the largest Asian member of the Hornbill family The Black Eagle, ( Ictinaetus malayensis) is a Bird of prey. Like all Eagles it is in the family Accipitridae, and is presently the only
Threats
Cat Tien comprises an important reserve in Vietnam, both for the habitat it protects and numbers of species. A habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits" is an Ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular Species. As well as being a critical reserve for the Javan Rhino, it also is home to 40 IUCN Red List species, and protects around 30% of Vietnam's species. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List) created in 1963 is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global The park is, however, threatened by encroachment from local communities, illegal logging and poaching. Logging is the process in which Trees are cut down for Forest management and Timber. Poaching is the illegal Hunting, Fishing or Harvesting of wild plants or animals In addition, the park is too small for the larger species found inside it, this leads to either their local extinction or to conflicts with local people as these animals move beyond the confines of the park. In Biology and Ecology, extinction is the cessation of existence of a Species or group of taxa. This problem is particularly intense for the park's elephant population, which is prone to wandering and is considered too small to be self sustainable.
Since the early 1990s, partly as a result of the discovery of rhinos in the park, international donors and the Vietnamese government began to invest more money in protecting the park and managing the resources of local State Forest Enterprises, nearby and adjoining forests, in co-ordination with the park as a whole. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 There have been moves to combine a management plan that allows for both traditional park management and some limited resource utilisation by local people, which include the Stieng, Ma, Ta Lai and Cho'ro minorities. The term Indigenous Peoples or autochthonous peoples can be used to describe any Ethnic group who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest historical
References
Protecting mammal diversity: opportunities and constraints for pragmatic conservation management in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam, Oryx, 38, Polet & Ling, (2004) [1]
External links
- Cat Tien National Park: further information including species lists
- WWF in Cat Tien
- Travel Company for Cat Tien