ENDANGERED SPECIES IN VIETNAM

Vietnam is home to five “most endangered” species, the most of any country. The nations with the most threatened species include: 1) Indonesia (128 mammal and 104 bird species); 2) Brazil (71 mammal and 103 bird species); 3) China (75 mammal and 90 bird species); 4) India (75 mammal and 73 bird species); 5) The Philippines (49 mammal and 86 bird species); 6) Peru (46 mammal and 64 bird species); 7) Mexico (64 mammal species); 8) Columbia (64 bird species); 9) Australia (58 mammal species); 10) Papua New Guinea (57 mammal species); 11) Ecuador (53 bird species); 12) Madagascar (46 mammal species); 13) the U.S. (50 bird species); 14) Vietnam (47 bird species).

One visitor to Vietnam wrote: One of the things that struck me is the lack of any wildlife anywhere. I now live in London, quite a large populated city, but there are many trees, green patches, parks and birds. The only birds I saw in Hanoi were in small cages outside people’s shops looking rather sad for themselves.

Frank Zeller of AFP wrote: “Many of Vietnam's wild areas have become denuded habitats, sometimes dubbed "empty forests." More than 300 animal species have disappeared and over 100 are threatened. With virgin rainforests now reduced to a patchwork, fewer than 100 tigers, 100 wild elephants and 10 rhinos are believed to survive in the wild in Vietnam, their gene pools already too small to ensure their survival here.” [Source: Frank Zeller, Agence France Presse, August 14, 2006]

Endangered Animals: mammals: 54; bird: 36; reptiles: 27; amphibians: 16; fish: 45; molluscs: 0; other invertebrates: 92; plants: 147; total: 417; Red List in 2009: [Source: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), The Guardian theguardian.com ]

Book Vietnam A Natural History Eleanor Jane Sterling, Martha Maud Hurley and Le Duc Minh (Yale University Press, 2006]

Vietnam’s Quiet Forests

Stephen Nash wrote in the New York Times: “A promotional email I received from Cuc Phuong National Park was tantalizing: “The ancient forest contains almost 2,000 species of trees and among them live some amazing and rare animals including the clouded leopard, Delacour’s langur, Owston’s civet, otters and Asian black bears! … owls, flying squirrels, lorises, bats and cats.” [Source: Stephen Nash, New York Times, April 1, 2019]

“But in trying to make arrangements to visit, the travel fixers my wife and I contacted were oddly hesitant about natural areas and wildlife, and they kept nudging us back toward mere scenery, or to cities. And then this email: “Have you been to Vietnam before, or know of the situation there? It’s pretty dire if you are not aware.”

“Dire for wildlife? “Very much so. In Vietnam, national parks are primarily in name only, and poaching (often practiced by park rangers) and worse has decimated wildlife.” “Calls to conservation personnel who live and work in Vietnam reconciled the seeming contradictions. Yes, the country is an epicenter for wild species diversity. No, wildlife travel is not much pursued, and Vietnam has also become a world center for criminal wildlife trafficking.

“Its wild populations, already hemmed in by habitat destruction because of an exploding human population, are also being shot, snared and live-captured so efficiently that national parks and other natural areas are now mostly afflicted with “empty forest syndrome”: suitable forest habitat from which even small animals and birds have been hunted into local extinction. Other Asian countries are in various stages of the same convulsion. It’s frequently said that many new species vanish before science can even discover them.

“Vietnam’s decline is especially intense. For example, in a single remote national preserve set aside for the saola and other rare animals, 23,000 cheap but fatally efficient wire snares were found in 2015, the most recent year tallied. Tens of thousands more of these snares are placed each year, as fast as they can be confiscated. Despite intensive surveys, no verifiable sighting of a saola has occurred since a photo was taken of one, six years ago. The last rhino was shot by poachers in the Cat Tien National Park in 2010. Tigers have been effectively hunted out of existence. Only tiny populations of bears and elephants hang on in small, vulnerable pockets. Nearly all of the many primate species are at risk of extinction.

Tigers in Vietnam

Vietnam has fewer than five wild tigers remaining, making the Indochinese tiger subspecies functionally extinct in the wild across the country. Decades of heavy poaching driven by the illegal wildlife trade and traditional medicine markets, along with severe habitat fragmentation, rapidly decimated native populations. While wild tigers have virtually vanished from protected areas like Pu Mat National Park, Vietnam is estimated to hold around 350 to 400 tigers in captivity across state-run zoos, rescue centers, and privately owned breeding facilities, where conservationists continue to push for stricter regulatory oversight.

The Indochinese tiger is native to Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Laos. They have different stripping patterns than Bengal tigers and measure 2.84 meters from the end of their nose to the tip of their tail and weigh an average of 195 kilograms. There are between 250 and 600 of them. Indochinese tigers are regarded as more elusive than their Indian cousins. The tigers in Thailand are considered the most secretive of all. See Indonchinese Tigers Under TIGER SUBSPECIES, HYBRIDS, MUTANTS AND EXTINCT ONES factsanddetails.com

It was estimated that there are about 200 tigers left in Vietnam in the 1990s. The number of animals has declined as a result of loss of habitat and hunting to obtain the bones, skin and claws for Chinese medicines. In the 1990s lots tiger skins and teeth were available in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to an old Vietnamese story, the tiger got its stripes when a man a captured it and tied it to a tree to show the animal who was boss—and set the tree on fire. The tiger was so powerful it broke free. The stripes are burn marks.

In September 2009, Reuters reported: “A zookeeper in Vietnam was mauled to death and another injured by a tiger that leapt out of its enclosure to attack the workers, newspapers reported. Zoo workers were planting trees in an adjacent enclosure when the tiger pounced on them after leaping over the dividing wall at the Dai Nam Zoo, just north of Ho Chi Minh City. One worker leapt into a pond to dodge the animal, which attacked the others in front of horrified visitors. "The wall between the two enclosures was made of concrete and about 5 or 6 meters high," the newspaper Thanh Nien quoted Duong Thanh Phi, director of the private zoo as saying. [Source: Reuters, September 11, 2009]

Endangered Monkeys in Vietnam

The Tonkin snub-nosed leaf monkey, a small white and black primate, are labeled “critically endangered” and “ particularly vulnerable” as they have been hunted almost to extinction. There are only about 140 left. According to one conservationist a population of 200 is necessary for the species to survive.

Endangered concolor gibbons have had their numbers reduced by poaching and loss of habitat resulting from farming. They survive in isolated areas of Laos, Vietnam and China.

The Cat Ba langur lives only on the small rocky island of Cat Be, just off the coast of Vietnam. It has never been very numerous and is threatened by tourism and development of the island.

Duoc langurs are very small primates that live mostly in Vietnam. They have very sensitive digestive systems. Ones kept in captivity must be fed five times a day. Two big meals overwhelms their digestive systems.

Cat Ba Langur

The Cat Ba langur lives only on the small rocky island of Cat Be, just off the coast of Vietnam. There is no evidence that the Cat Ba Langur ever inhabited the mainland. It has never been very numerous and is threatened by tourism and development of the island. It is also known as the golden-headed langur or white-headed langur

Cat Ba langurs((Trachypithecus poliocephalus) reach a head-body length of 50-60 centimeters and a body-weight of 15-20 kilograms. The tail length ranges from 82-89 centimeters. Like other langur species, they have slim hands and feet and reduced thumbs, a sacculated stomach to assist in the breakdown of cellulose and large salivary glands to assist it in breaking down food. The fur colour ranges from bright golden to yellowish-white on the head, shoulders, and rump, the back is dark chocolate brown, almost black, and there is a grey band running from the thighs to the back, forming a V-shape above the tail root. The long hair of the back forms a shoulder cape. The fur colour of infants is a flamboyant orange.

Cat Ba langurs are social, diurnal and arboreal. An average social group comprises 4 to 5 animals. They live in forests around limestone formations, at an elevation from 70-100 meters, and regularly sleep in caves throughout the year. One langur group may have up to 12 different resting caves. The group spends only one or two nights in the same cave before moving on to other feeding and sleeping places. These monkeys gives birth to a single offspring. The breeding season of this species is probably in April. Their diet mainly consists of leaves, but also includes fresh shoots, flowers, bark and some fruits that are not palatable to human beings. Most of the langur’s food has very high concentration of fibre and tannic acids, and it often contains substances that would be poisonous to other animals, including human beings.

According to some reckonings the Cat Be langur is a subspecies of the white-headed langur which has another subspecies living in Guangxi, China (T. p. leucocephalus). Both taxa are overall blackish, but the crown, cheeks and neck are yellowish in T. p. poliocephalus, while they, as suggested by its scientific name, are white in T. p. leucocephalus. The Cat Ba langur is among the rarest primates in the world, and possibly the rarest primate in Asia. The taxonomic position of the Chinese population, while also highly endangered, is more confusing. It has been considered a partially albinistic population of the Francois' langur, a subspecies of Francois' langur, a valid species, or a subspecies, T. poliocephalus leucocephalus. Comparably, poliocephalus was considered a subspecies of Francois' langur until 1995. [Source: Wikipedia +]

The Cat Ba is considered to be one of "The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates," and is assumed to have declined by 80 percent over the last three generations. According to the Cat Ba Langur Conservation Project, the The Cat Ba langur's skin is black and the pelage color is dark brown; head and shoulder are bright golden to yellowish-white. The tail is very long (85 centimeters) compared to the body size (50 centimeters). Babies are colored golden-orange; the pelage starts to change its color from about the fourth month on. Males and females look alike. The Cat Ba langurs live in groups, usually one male with several females and their offspring. They are diurnal animals, adapted to living in limestone habitat. Each group has its own territory, defended by the adult male who also initiates the location of the group. The females usually give birth to a single baby every 2–3 years, which becomes mature at 4–6 years old. Langurs have an average life expectancy of 25 years. Food mainly consists of leaves, but also fresh shoots, flowers, bark, and some fruits. +

Tonkin Snub-Nosed Monkeys

Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus avunculus) are a small gray, white and black primate that and live in Northern Vietnam. Vietnam’s largest primate species, they have a very distinctive look that is almost comical due to the upturned nose, tufted ears, pale blue rimmed eyes and thick, pink lips. They are 51–65 centimeters (20–26 inches) long, with a 66–92 centimeter (26–36 inch) tail. They live in forests and eat leaves, fruit, flowers, and seeds. They are critically endangered. There are only 80–260 of them. Populations have been confirmed in the past in seven provinces of Northern Vietnam: Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Yen Bai, Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen, and Quang Ninh. They have been found fairly recently in Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, and Bac Kan Provinces, and possibly in Thai Nguyen Province. Their population is declining. [Source: Wikipedia]

The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey is also known as the Tonkin snub-nosed langur and Dollman's Snub-nosed monkey. They are found only in subtropical broad-leaf and bamboo forests that have monsoon rainfall and tropical temperatures. These forests are usually found on top of limestone hills at elevations of less than 1000 meters (3280.84 feet). Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys are the only snub-nosed monkeys that occur in subtropical areas. [Source: Rachel Cherka, Animal Diversity Web (ADW)]

Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys are one of the 25 most endangered species of primate in the world. They are only found in Vietnam and was believed extinct until they were rediscovered in 1989. Little is known about them as they're very rare, elusive and live in remote areas. In May 2002, Fauna & Flora International (FFI) discovered a vitally important population in a small patch of limestone forest known as Khau Ca, in Ha Giang Province. [Source: Fauna and Flora International]

Gray-Shanked Douc Langur

The gray-shanked douc langur was first described by biologists in 1997. It has hardly ever been seen in the wild. The individual described by scientists was found in a cage at a market. It shares the same habitat in the Truang Son region with black shanked douc langurs. Scientists are debating whether it qualifies as a unique species or a subspecies.

In 2007, The Hindustan Times reported: “Scientists have found the world's largest-known population of an endangered monkey species in central Vietnam, increasing its chances of survival, conservationists said. Surveys since 2005 by the WWF global environmental conservation organization and Conservation International recorded at least 116 of the tree-dwelling grey-shanked doucs, one of the world's 25 most endangered primates. "It's very rare to discover a population of this size with such high numbers in a small area, especially for a species on the brink of extinction," Barney Long, a conservation coordinator with WWF Vietnam, said in a statement. "This indicates that the population has not been impacted by hunting like all other known populations of the species." [Source: The Hindustan Times, July 3, 2007 ||~||]

“The species has only been recorded in the five central Vietnam provinces of Quang Nam, Kon Tum, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Gia Lai. Fewer than 1,000 are believed to exist, and until the discovery announced, only one other population with more than 100 animals was known, the statement said. Conservation International said 65 percent of Vietnam's primates are endangered. ||~||

Rare Birds in Vietnam

The male crested argus has the longest tail feathers of any bird (as long as 70 inches). It is found in only two places: the Tuong San area of Vietnam and Laos and the montane areas of Malaysia.

An impoundment in the Mekong Delta for a water growing tree called the melaleuca has also been adopted as a feeding place by flocks of rare eastern sarus cranes. The numbers of these birds, which once were widespread, have dwindled to around a thousand, primarily from loss of wetland habitat. The impoundment has been set aside as a reserve area, even though many locals would rather see it drained and used for rice production. Scientists observing the crane say that "for those on the edge of survival the environment is not an immediate concern," but since it the only area where the birds are known to feed: "If its lost, they could be lost too." [National Geographic Geographica, December 1990].

In March 2003, Alex Kirby of BBC News wrote: “Earlier fieldwork by BirdLife to identify Vietnam's key conservation sites led to the discovery of three species of bird new to science — the black-crowned barwing, and the golden-winged and chestnut-eared laughing thrushes. The country is also home to an extremely small population of highly endangered rhinos. New mammal species found in recent years in south-east Asia include the world's smallest deer, in Burma, and a striped rabbit in the mountains straddling the border between Laos and Vietnam. In the last few years a forest pig have also been found in the region. [Source: Alex Kirby, BBC News, March 13, 2003]

“Almost nine-tenths of Vietnam's most important sites for bird conservation are at risk from hunting and trapping, experts say. The warning comes from BirdLife International, a global alliance of ornithologists working in more than 100 countries. It says the danger comes mainly from a huge rise in the trade in wildlife, and from agricultural pressure. But BirdLife praises the Vietnamese Government's work to establish protected areas for wildlife. With the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Hanoi, BirdLife has published a guide, Key Sites for Conservation in Vietnam. It says 56 of 63 of the most critically important places for bird and biodiversity conservation (88 percent) are affected by illegal hunting and trapping. Second to that as a threat is more intensive farming, which affects 43 of the sites. The guide says this is especially serious for wetlands, including coastal mudflats and wet grasslands in the Mekong delta.

Mate for Mega-Rare Turtle Found in Vietnamese Lake

A female Swinhoe’s softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), considered the world’s rarest turtle and largest freshwater turtle, was identified in Vietnam’s Dong Mo Lake in October 2020. Until then, a male at Suzhou Zoo in China was thought to be the last known individual. Genetic testing confirmed the Vietnamese turtle was female, giving the species a possible chance to avoid extinction. [Source: Nick Allen, The Telegraph, January 2, 2021]

The species became nearly extinct because of hunting for food and the use and sale of its eggs as medicine in China. Scientists had unsuccessfully tried to breed the Suzhou Zoo male with a female since 2008; that female died in April 2019 after an artificial insemination attempt. Conservationists then searched Vietnam for other turtles.

The female found in Dong Mo Lake weighed 86 kilograms (190 pounds). Scientists believed there could be another Swinhoe’s turtle in the same lake and possibly one in a nearby lake. They planned to capture the animals, conduct genetic tests and determine their sex. Timothy McCormack of the Asian Turtle Program said that finding a male and female could make breeding and recovery of the species a real possibility.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Vietnamtourism. com, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, CIA World Factbook, “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 5: East/Southeast Asia:” edited by Paul Hockings, 1993; National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Encyclopedia.com, Library of Congress, Live Science, The Conversation, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Google AI, Wikipedia, The Guardian and various websites, books and other publications identified in the text. .

Last updated September 2026