Dong Chau – Khe Nuoc Trong Nature Reserve is home to 76 species of mammals, 214 species of birds and 671 species of reptiles. Among them are many rare species of animals and plants that are at high risk of extinction.
Dong Chau – Khe Nuoc Trong Nature Reserve is located in the southwest of Le Thuy district, Quang Binh province, bordering the Vietnam – Laos border and Bac Huong Hoa Nature Reserve, Quang Tri province.
This area is mainly tropical forest located in a large natural forest ecosystem of about 500,000 hectares, with rich forest resources.
According to preliminary statistics from the Management Board of Dong Chau – Khe Nuoc Trong Nature Reserve, this area is home to 76 species of mammals, 214 species of birds and 671 species of reptiles. Among them are many rare and endangered species.
The spotted civet (left photo), also known as the star civet or leopard civet (scientific name: Prionodon pardicolor), is a rare animal listed in the Vietnam Red Book. On the right is a deer caught in a camera trap.
The red-shanked douc langur, a rare endemic primate, is critically endangered in Vietnam.
The Crested Pheasant (scientific name Rheinardia ocellata) is a large bird in the pheasant family, this is a subspecies endemic to Vietnam, extremely endangered.
A sun bear was captured by a camera trap in Dong Chau – Khe Nuoc Trong Nature Reserve. This species has the scientific name Ursus Thibetanus, belonging to group IB in the list of rare and endangered forest animals.
The Asiatic black bear is listed in the Red Book of the World Conservation Union as an endangered species that needs to be preserved.
Wild cats, wild boars and mountain goats were caught in the camera trap. The mountain goat, whose full name is the continental mountain goat (Capricornis Milneedwardsii), is a large animal of the bovine family living in Vietnam and is listed as an endangered species in the Red Book.
Java pangolin, also known as Java pangolin, is on the list of endangered, rare wild animals that are in danger of extinction. Exploitation and use for commercial purposes are strictly prohibited.
A gaur individual was discovered in the Dong Chau – Khe Nuoc Trong Nature Reserve. It is known that in Vietnam, this species is classified as the Indochina gaur or Southeast Asian gaur (scientific name is Bos gaurus laosiensis or Bos gaurus readei) and is classified by the World Red Book as a rare animal group 1B, preserved at the level of near-endangered.
Mr. Bach Thanh Hai, Director of Dong Chau – Khe Nuoc Trong Nature Reserve, said that Dong Chau – Khe Nuoc Trong is one of the areas with the largest continuous natural forest area in Vietnam.
In particular, this area also preserves a large area of evergreen tropical forest with primary characteristics on lowlands; this type of forest has become very rare in Vietnam due to strong impacts and has been narrowed in other regions and is one of the areas with high biodiversity value of the Truong Son range, highly appreciated by many international organizations on nature conservation.
Photo: Dong Chau – Khe Nuoc Trong Nature Reserve
