Preserving Cat Tien "paradise" for animals

It is only with determination and support that we can truly be transparent that on the winding Dong Nai River, about 150 km from Ho Chi Minh City, we have been able to preserve until today a "wilderness" as diverse as the "African forest animal world" - Cat Tien National Park (75,000 hectares wide, covering the territory of 3 provinces Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc, Lam Dong).

One night I met nearly a hundred deer with eyes as bright as stars.

At night, December 2023, the Director of Cat Tien National Park, Mr. Pham Xuan Thinh, assigned ranger Le Duc Khanh, a guy whose extended family works in the forestry industry, to hold a flashlight and lead us to "test whether there are many wild animals left". The truck had an open-top seat that could carry up to thirty tourists. Everyone was absolutely silent, no one was allowed to use a flashlight or a phone light to shine on anything, to avoid scaring the animals. Only Khanh himself methodically glided his light over the treetops and grasslands. Sometimes, a blinding owl would rush out onto the road, whizzing past our heads, mysteriously beautiful. Here, a golden-black-headed oriole, smooth as a cotton ball, was nestling its head into its own wing shape and sleeping soundly on a moss-covered tree canopy. There are several Hainan flycatchers, with purple-blue heads and velvety feathers, nestling together as if seeking warmth in a deep sleep, under the protection of the broad leaves of the still-green tropical forest, because Nam Cat Tien has not yet completely ended its rainy season.

There was an owl's cry in the old forest, sometimes plaintive, sometimes vaguely, as if avoiding our search. Oh my god, something with red and purple eyes was sparkling in the distance. A male crested owl. Its eyes "caught" the light, as if "sunstroked", curiously looking into the distance, not bothering to fly when we got quite close. Its eyes were wide open. Khanh said, we have to choose the right type of light, this is recommended by experts in wild bird conservation. The light must be yellow enough, soft enough, bright enough, so as not to affect this beautiful nocturnal bird. Also be "polite" with it, so that it won't be scared, so that next time we come to this corner of the forest we can... meet.

In the past, Vietnamese people always thought that owls, especially owls (belonging to the owl family, with a cry similar to that of a pig) were always ominous signs, bringing death, misfortune and illness. But now, especially since the image of owls in books and movies from the West was introduced, people who love birds and explore wild nature have loved the beauty and mystery of owls even more. In Cat Tien, my friend, Nguyen Manh Hiep, took a beautiful photo of the Eastern owl (fish owl). Wild boar owl, banded owl, crested owl...

Khanh and I approached, the most modern camera on the market, one click produces 30 high-quality moments, “exploding” softly. The crested owl looked bewildered, suddenly as if escaping from its dream and flying away. The wild boar owl startled in the green canopy of an ancient tree. The spotlight was furtive. His eyes caught the flashlight and glowed red. The “night assassin” was extremely sensitive, his eyes were big and clear like a cat’s, when catching the red light like… two clumps of fire, his ears perked up like a funny cat.

Outside, for an hour, we saw the firelight as bright as a shooting star along the cogon grass slopes. Herds of deer followed one another. The male deer were in mating season, with bright red musk around their necks (it must have been very fragrant, we were too far away to sense it). There was a wet deer that had just come out of the mud, the mother deer led her fawn out, chattering curiously towards the light. A few roe deer (also called men, mang), a pair of cute cheo calves, slinked through the cogon grass.

Suddenly, a buffalo, then another wild bull, they walked back in the dark night. There were countless civets. Birds, animals, and nocturnal animals appeared in great numbers. But the most were still during the day.

Mr. Tang A Pau, a person who spent nearly two decades photographing wild nature, is still busy composing at the age of over 70 and is especially passionate about denouncing environmental massacres. Mr. Pau spent 6 months continuously in the "African animal paradise" - Cat Tien National Park to take photos. With a pickup truck that was specially allowed to enter the forest, he had a series of photos of birds, owls, peacocks, wild animals of all kinds (gaur, elephant, wild buffalo, yellow-cheeked gibbon, black-shanked douc, Indochinese silvered langur, wild boar, deer, porcupine, muntjac...) that touched people's hearts. This is probably the only place in Vietnam where it is not too difficult to meet large herds of gaur and take pictures of them.

Thanks to his intense passion for Cat Tien nature, Mr. Tang A Pau was awarded the title “Knight of the Green Forest” by the then Director of the garden, Mr. Pham Hong Luong. The award ceremony was held solemnly, and the Vietnamese media reported respectfully. The photos of many artists passionate about wild nature (such as Mr. Pau, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hiep...) were solemnly printed in large format by the Garden Management Board, displayed in the reception halls, tourism promotion posters, and even printed in the rooms named after elephants, bears, rosewood, red oak, green peacocks... of the garden. This is a very effective way to spread love for nature.

The brave battle of the forest knights

The respectful attitude of the Board of Directors, staff, and rangers of Cat Tien National Park towards the values ​​of the natural treasures they are managing has contributed significantly to honoring and spreading those things. Surely you will think that you are present in a pristine "paradise garden" - something rare in the world and even more rare in Vietnam - especially when we are used to entering national parks and only seeing people, restaurants, trees, but rarely seeing giant wonders, and even fewer wild animals leisurely grazing and foraging. Let's ask, in Vietnam today, is there any place where in just one night following a flashlight to look for animals, you can see about a hundred deer, gaurs, wild cows, civets, birds, snakes, owls...?

Another notable highlight is the birds in Cat Tien National Park. I myself have taken photos of wild peacocks dancing beautifully, mysterious night owls, and rare birds that international visitors flock to, such as pitta and red-faced chickens. Cat Tien National Park is also a special-use forest with the most bird-shooting areas (sites) in Vietnam: 6 sites! Meanwhile, in other National Parks considered to be crowded with tourists and fertile "green lungs" such as Bach Ma, Ba Vi, Tam Dao, Pu Mat, Con Dao, Yok Don... there are no bird sites!

A statistic has been stated by experts and officially published by the press: Among the more than 900 recorded bird species in Vietnam, Cat Tien National Park has more than 400 species. The estimated rate is more than 40%, nearly 50% of Vietnam's birds congregate in Cat Tien. If you walk 5km of paved road to the wetland of international importance (honored under the Ramsar Convention), you will see countless birds and animals, splendid male peacocks dancing ecstatically, owls calling dreamily, birds flying in colorful colors. In particular, Bau Sau is the place with the most wild freshwater crocodiles in Vietnam. 600 swamp killers, swimming for food, during the day they lie with their mouths open to bask in the sun, at night they swim around, shining a flashlight for a while, you will see thousands of eyes shining like falling stars...

To preserve the harmony of birds and animals, reminiscent of the classic images of “African forest animals” like that - still existing in the middle of the third decade of the 21st century - in Cat Tien National Park, the forest protection forces here, for many generations, have bravely fought and “fought” against the evil schemes of all kinds of loggers. More than 90km of Dong Nai River surrounds the forest area, on the other side of the river are residential areas, boats only need to “start their engines for a minute” to enter the park. Therefore, propaganda, example, deterrence, enlightenment, so that the majority of our people (in all 3 provinces) join hands to be proud and preserve the “Cat Tien wilderness”, that is the key to the problem. The immense forest is everywhere the “gate to the forest”, the ranger force is too thin, the means of transportation and support tools are quite simple, the confrontation with loggers is extremely fierce.

In that context, only with true public ethics and genuine efforts can the forest and its spirit (wild animals) be protected as they are today. Mr. Pham Hong Luong, former Director of Cat Tien National Park, used his personal page, his own image of respecting the green color of chlorophyll and his family's "tradition" of working in the nature conservation sector to spread the precious values ​​from the wild Cat Tien. The current Director of Cat Tien National Park, Mr. Pham Xuan Thinh, every time he handled cases of using guns, pepper spray, sharp knives, and sticks to brutally attack forest rangers, and confiscated evidence such as traps, weapons, and many rare animals that had just been killed, he would absentmindedly send us photos. Once he exclaimed: It hurts so much, journalist!

Of course, the more fiercely and bravely forest rangers protect the forest and fight against acts of forest destruction and killing of rare animals, the more likely they are to be assaulted by bad guys. At Cat Tien National Park, in 2023 alone, there were 2 cases of brutal assault on forest rangers in 3 days in March. Specifically, on March 2, 2023, 9 forest rangers were on patrol and discovered a group of illegal loggers hunting and killing many wild animals such as wild boars, deer, cheo, civets, etc. They proceeded to handle the situation, but the subjects used homemade guns, pepper spray, knives, and large wooden sticks to repeatedly and brutally attack. 3 forest rangers were seriously injured, including Deputy Head of the Forest Ranger Station Pham Ngoc Tuan, who suffered many bruises and bleeding on his chest, neck, mouth, and nose. Especially the severe wound on his left cheek. Chieu Van Hai and Luong Van Bao were also seriously injured. After that, 6 illegal loggers were temporarily detained by Tan Phu District Police (Dong Nai), prosecuted, and prosecuted. Three days earlier, on the evening of February 28, 2023, Mr. Vu Manh Cuong, from Da Bong Cua Forest Ranger Station, Cat Tien National Park, was on duty and was brutally assaulted by 5-6 young men, and had to go to Cho Ray Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City) for long-term treatment.

When protected and promoted to its full potential, nature is not only a valuable asset in the form of large trees containing many cubic meters of expensive wood; not only rare and large animals…, they are also a beautiful and affectionate living space to nourish our souls and heal all our wounds. They are irreplaceable “visual aids” that help shape our personalities and nurture compassion in each of us. Forests are a magical armor and common roof that protects and covers this world.

Living museums of many amazing giant trees

The museum of ancient trees in Cat Tien National Park can make anyone stunned. Here, the ancient tung trees are over 400 years old, over 40 m high, with trunks so large that 20 people can hug them. Their roots spread out like prehistoric dinosaurs, crawling across dozens of meters of the old forest. On the other side, the ancient, precious, rare red ironwood tree has been determined by advanced technology to be over 700 years old, with a trunk diameter of up to 2.5 m. Since the late 1980s, comrade Pham Van Dong, then Prime Minister of Vietnam, visited this "giant wonder" red ironwood tree and gave valuable advice on forest protection work in the precious natural treasure of Cat Tien. Moved by this sentiment, the officials and people here hung signs, opened a path to guide them, and named the "heritage tree": "Uncle Dong's ironwood tree".

We arrived at the Hundred-stem Banyan Tree, passing through the enchanting forest paths, as if lost in a paradise of flowers and leaves. Many young people camped and held parties by the cool, clear stream. There, the banyan tree covered the stream, covering both banks, hundreds of meters wide and long. Not far away was a cycad tree several centuries old; a six-top Lagerstroemia tree, an elephant-shaped Lagerstroemia tree, a “one-in-the-world” Lagerstroemia tree - all majestic, standing bravely against the years for the past 300 years, a Luc Giao banyan tree (meaning 6 ancient trees growing branches and leaves together) with branches intertwined and rolling, forming a giant dome, making people think of the wonder and talented design ability of nature...