My life as a forest creature: growing up with the Cuc Phuong National Park

It is lovely to wake up in the morning in the park; you hear the birds singing and you see them flying overhead. You can also see the silver pheasant along the trails; the males look particularly handsome with their long white tails.

Many nocturnal animals also live in the park, such as Owston's palm civet, which loves to eat the noisy crickets and quiet earthworms. When I was a child in the forest at night, the bats swooping past my ears or the movement of an unseen animal in the dark would make my hair stand on end. Sometimes it still does. But it is always magical on a summer's eve when the fireflies are out; they make the forest look like a Christmas night, with thousands of little lights blinking in giant Christmas trees.

For visitor information, contact: Cuc Phuong National Park Nho Quan District Ninh Binh Province Vietnam (84-30) 848-006/-009/-007

Fax: (84-30) 848-008

A SAMPLING OF SPECIES

Mammals Clouded leopard, Asian golden cat, Owston's palm civet, Asiatic black bear, crested gibbon, Delacour's langur, Phayre's langur, lesser slow loris, Chinese pangolin, Cuc Phuong squirrel, giant flying squirrels, and horseshoe bats.

Birds Eurasian tree sparrow, white-rumped munia, scaly-breasted munia, common kingfisher, white-breasted kingfisher, melodious laughing thrush, black-throated laughing thrush, long-tailed shrike, green peafowl, grey peacock pheasant, silver pheasant, great hornbill, Indian pied hornbill, chestnut-necklaced partridge, red-collared woodpecker, and red-vented barbet.

Other animals include snakes, such as cobra, king cobra, and banded krait; geckos, turtles, and frogs; fish (among them the Cuc Phuong catfish) and crabs; and countless insects and spiders.

Trees Parashorea chinensis, Terminalia myriocarpa, Tetrameles nudiflora, Cinnamonum balansae, Dracontomelum duperreanum, and Cuc Phuong pear.

Nguyen Thi Dao is a conservationist with the World Wildlife Fund Indochina Programme.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Natural History Magazine, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning