Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Snake bites are responsible for more amputations in Cambodia than landmines these days.
Many villagers go to the medicine man for treatment and end up with infection, gangrene and/
or a funeral.
Most of Cambodia's fauna is extremely hard to spot in the wild. The easiest way to see
a healthy selection is to visit the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre near Phnom Penh,
which provides a home for rescued animals and includes all the major species.
A whopping 720 bird species find Cambodia a congenial home, thanks in large part to
its year-round water resources. Relatively common birds include ducks, rails, cranes, her-
ons, egrets, cormorants, pelicans, storks and parakeets, with migratory shorebirds, such as
waders, plovers and terns, around the South Coast estuaries. Serious twitchers should con-
sider a visit to Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary; Ang Trapeng Thmor Reserve, home to the ex-
tremely rare sarus crane, depicted on the bas-reliefs at Angkor; or the Tmatboey Ibis Pro-
ject, where the critically endangered giant ibis, Cambodia's national bird, can be seen. For
details on birdwatching in Cambodia, check out the Siem Reap-based Sam Veasna Center
( Click here ) .
Cambodia is home to about 240 species of reptile, including nine species of snake
whose venom can be fatal, such as members of the cobra and viper families.
The khting vor (spiral-horned ox), so rare that no one had ever seen a live specimen, was con-
sidered critically endangered until DNA analysis of its distinctive horns showed that the
creature had never existed - the 'horns' belonged to ordinary cattle and buffalo!
Endangered Species
Unfortunately, it is getting mighty close to checkout time for a number of species in Cam-
bodia. The kouprey (wild ox), declared Cambodia's national animal by King Sihanouk
back in the 1960s, and the Wroughton's free-tailed bat, previously thought to exist in only
one part of India but recently discovered in Preah Vihear Province, are on the 'Globally
Threatened: Critical' list, the last stop before extinction.
Other animals under serious threat in Cambodia include the Asian elephant, tiger,
banteng, gaur, Asian golden cat, black gibbon, clouded leopard, fishing cat, marbled cat,
sun bear, pangolin, giant ibis and Siamese crocodile.
 
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