Cat Tien National Park: Lowland Forests and Wildlife in Southern Vietnam

Cat Tien National Park (CTNP), located approximately 150 km north of Ho Chi Minh City, sprawls across Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc, and Lam Dong provinces, protecting about 720 square kilometers of lowland tropical forest. Since 2011, it has been part of the Dong Nai Biosphere Reserve and remains one of Vietnam's most important conservation areas.

How the Park Came Together

The region was historically home to the Ma people (particularly around Cat Loc) and Stieng communities in western Dong Nai Province. After park establishment, many were resettled to Talai village.

Ctnp began as two protected sectors in 1978: Nam Cat Tien and Tay Cat Tien. The turning point came in 1992 when researchers discovered a population of Vietnamese Javan rhinoceros in a third sector, Cat Loc, bringing international scrutiny. By 1998, the three sectors merged into a single national park. Today, Vietnamese Forest Rangers (Kiem lam) manage conservation, anti-poaching, and fire control. Significant logging continued into the 1990s; areas affected by this activity now consist largely of bamboo and grassland awaiting forest regrowth.

Ancient Temples Along the River

Just north of the park boundary, on the Dong Nai River banks between Cat Loc and Nam Cat Tien, lies the Cat Tien archaeological site. Excavations from 1994 to 2003 uncovered temples from a previously unknown Shaiva Hindu civilization, likely active between the 4th and 9th centuries AD. The dig yielded substantial artifacts — gold, bronze, ceramics, colored stone, and glass — now displayed at the Da Lat Museum. This discovery makes the park valuable not just for wildlife but for understanding pre-Khmer Southeast Asian history.

Image by Vyacheslav Argenberg via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)

Five Forest Habitats

Park authorities have mapped five primary habitat types, each supporting different species:

Primary Evergreen Forest covers only about 2% of Nam Cat Tien but is highly diverse, dominated by Fabaceae (including endemic Dalbergia mammosa rosewood) and Dipterocarpaceae species like Dipterocarpus alatus and Hopea odorata, which are actively replanted.

Primary and Secondary Mixed or Deciduous Forest occupies well-drained soils with Lagerstroemia calyculata, Tetrameles nudiflora (which grows to spectacular size), and Anogeissus acuminata. The understory hosts endemic Cycas inermis, various palms, and fruit trees (figs, wild bananas) vital for wildlife diet.

Secondary Forest with Bamboo resulted from logging, fire, and herbicide use; common trees include Lagerstroemia calyculata, Mesua sp., and Xylia xylocarpa mixed with bamboo species.

Bamboo Forest covers roughly 40% of the park, likely expanded by land clearing for subsistence farming. Species include Bambusa balcooa, B. procera, and Gigantochloa spp.

Seasonally Flooded Grasslands account for about 10% of CTNP. During monsoon, the Dong Nai River floods 2,500 hectares in northern Nam Cat Tien via the Da Kluo (a reverse-flow stream), replenishing lakes such as Bau Sau (Crocodile Lake), Bau Chim, and Bau Co. Eastern Nam Cat Tien contains numerous swamps and vernal pools surrounded by swamp forest.

Vines, Orchids, and Riverside Life

Like seasonal tropical forests, CTNP teems with epiphytes: ferns, orchids, and "ant plants" such as Myrmecodia. Lianas abound — Ancistrocladus tectorius, box beans (Entada spp.), "monkey ladders" (Lasiobema scandens), and rattans (Calamus spp.) thrive in wet zones.

Freshwater swamp forests feature Ficus benjamina, Livistona saribus, Crateva, Syzygium, and Horsfieldia spp., plus patches of "tre gai" ("tre la nga") — Bambusa blumeana. Stream-side mud supports "cool mat" (Schumannianthus dichotomus).

Image by Vyacheslav Argenberg via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)

Endemic Species and Research

Cat Tien is the type locality for over 20 species named "catienensis," including two palms, the bracket fungus Tomophagus cattienensis, two reptiles, and four insects. Vietnamese and international researchers (including the Vietnam-Russia Tropical Centre) continue field studies. Between park headquarters and Ta Lai village, a 200-hectare replanting initiative (supported by the European Community from 1996 to 1998) shows active restoration.

Wildlife You Might See

Primates are a major draw: the endemic "golden-cheeked gibbon" (Nomascus gabriellae), black-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nigripes), Indochinese lutung or silvered langurs (Trachypithecus germaini), stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arctoides), crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis), northern pig-tailed macaques (Macaca leonina), and pygmy slow loris (Nycticebus pygmaeus).

Tree Shrews: Northern smooth-tailed treeshrew (Dendrogale murina) and Northern treeshrew (Tupaia belangeri).

Carnivores: Sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), Asian palm civets (very common), large-toothed ferret badger (Melogale personata pierrei), yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula subsp. indochinensis), oriental small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinerea), and crab-eating mongoose (Herpestes urva bi). A Bear Rescue Centre holds Asian black bears; wild status of the species in the park remains debated.