Wildlifeof Vietnam
Places
Where to see Vietnam's wildlife, from the northern karst to the Mekong Delta and the islands.
Why the north
The limestone karst and mountains of northern Vietnam hold some of the rarest primates on Earth: Delacour's langur, the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey and the Cao Vit gibbon, each surviving in a few protected forests. Cuc Phuong, Vietnam's first national park, is home to rescue centres for primates, turtles and pangolins, and the high peaks around Sa Pa add montane birds and salamanders.
Why the Annamites
The Annamite Mountains along the Laos border are one of the world's great centres of recently discovered mammals, including the saola and the giant muntjac, and hold crested argus and red-shanked doucs. The easiest place to see doucs is the Son Tra peninsula outside Da Nang; Phong Nha-Ke Bang and Bach Ma protect large areas of karst and wet forest.
Why the highlands
The Da Lat plateau and the Kon Tum highlands have their own endemic birds, such as the Vietnamese cutia and the grey-crowned crocias, and forests with grey-shanked doucs and gibbons. Further west, Yok Don's dry dipterocarp forest is the last stronghold of Vietnam's wild elephants and green peafowl.
Why the south
Cat Tien National Park is the best all-round wildlife destination in southern Vietnam, with gibbons, gaur, Germain's peacock-pheasants and reintroduced Siamese crocodiles. In the Mekong Delta, Tram Chim's flooded grasslands are a dry-season home for sarus cranes, and U Minh's peat swamp forests shelter the rare hairy-nosed otter.
Why the islands
Vietnam's islands add their own wildlife: the Cat Ba langur in Ha Long Bay's karst, nesting green turtles and dugongs around Con Dao, and forest and reef on Phu Quoc. Boat and island access depends on the weather, especially in the typhoon season.