Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

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Summary

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• Southern White-cheeked Gibbons (Nomascus siki) are present in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.
• It has been estimated that a minimum of 50 groups occur in the site.
• The gibbon population trend is unknown
• The site has a total size of 857 km².
• Key threats to gibbons are hunting and habitat loss due to illegal logging.
• Conservation activities have focused on education and awareness raising, reintroduction and rehabilitation, and training of ranger patrols.

Site characteristics

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is located in the Bo Trach and Minh Hoa Districts, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam. Much of the national park is naturally protected by karst limestone forest that is difficult to access. The southern white-cheeked gibbon population may be contiguous with gibbon groups in Hin Nam No National Protected Area in Laos. Collectively they form the largest area of continuous limestone karst mountains in Indochina; due to the limited access, this region probably provides a good level of protection to wildlife in general (Rawson et al. 2011).

Table 1. Basic site information for Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

Area	857 km²
Coordinates	17.567690, 106.274533
Designation	National Park
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

No complete census of southern white-cheeked gibbons has been undertaken in the park, though it supports one of the largest populations in Vietnam and possibly globally. At least nine gibbon/primate surveys were conducted between 1997 and 2009 were conducted in different areas of the park and varied in objectives and methods. A survey in early 2009 in the south-east of the park recorded 37 groups with 101 individuals over less than 5,400 ha, yielding a group density of 0.69 groups km-2. Ruppell (2007) recorded 13 groups of gibbons between km 40 and km 52 of the main service road in the park. Collectively, these records suggest at least 50 groups occur in the park, but this does not include the large park interior, which may contain significant numbers of gibbons (Rawson et al. 2011).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

Species	Year	Total number indiv. (95% CI)	Total number groups (95% CI)	Density ​​[groups/km²​] (95% CI)	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Nomascus siki					Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

Threats

Hunting and habitat loss due to illegal logging are the main threats to gibbons in the site. Little direct evidence of hunting of gibbons has been documented, but intensive hunting of other primates occurs; for example, macaques are targeted for the production of monkey bone balm. Illegal logging targets high-value timber species, and rising timber prices have resulted in increasing timber extraction (Rawson et al. 2011).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture		Unknown
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present, but threat level is unknown		Hunting of primates in the area (Rawson et al. 2011).	Ongoing (2011)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High		Illegal extraction of high-value timber (Rawson et al. 2011).	Ongoing (2011)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications		Unknown
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Unknown
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Not reported
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Not reported
3. Energy production & mining	Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not reported
5. Biological resource use	5.11. Provide training to anti-poaching ranger patrols	Cologne Zoo, FFI and Frankfurt Zoological Society have supported the funding and training of ranger patrols with primates as priority species for protection (Rawson et al. 2011).	Unknown
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	Not reported
7. Natural system modifications	Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not reported
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	10.1. Educate local communities about primates and sustainable use	FFI has implemented community awareness projects to raise local support for conservation of gibbons and other primates (Rawson et al. 2011).	Unknown
11. Habitat Protection	Not reported
12. Species Management	12.24. Rehabilitate injured/orphaned primates	Cologne Zoo and Frankfurt Zoological Society have supported primate re-introduction and wildlife rescue/rehabilitation in the park (Rawson et al. 2011).	Unknown
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Conservation activities are hindered by increasing tensions between the park management board and local communities over the board’s attempts to control wildlife hunting and logging in the park (Rawson et al. 2011).

Table 5. Challenges reported for Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Rawson, B. M, Insua-Cao, P., Nguyen Manh Ha, Van Ngoc Thinh, Hoang Minh Duc, Mahood, S., Geissmann, T. and Roos, C. 2011. The Conservation Status of Gibbons in Vietnam. Fauna & Flora International/Conservation International, Hanoi, Vietnam

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 10/02/2023