Site description (2002 baseline)
Cat Loc is one of the three sectors of Cat Tien National Park, and is situated at the western extent of the Central Highlands. The topography of the site is characterised by steep low hills. Cat Loc supports a variety of habitat types, including secondary evergreen forest, bamboo forest, flooded forest and grassland. Cat Loc is one of the most important sites for the conservation of mammals in Vietnam. Among the mammals that have been confirmed to occur at the site are Asian Elephant Elephas maximus, Lesser One-horned Rhinoceros Rhinoceros sondiacus, Gaur Bos gaurus, Black-shanked Douc Langur Pygathrix nigripes and Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon Nomascus gabrielle. Cat Loc is situated in the South Vietnamese Lowlands Endemic Bird Area (EBA). The site supports populations of all three bird species that occur in this EBA: Orange-necked Partridge Arborophila davidi, Germain's Peacock Pheasant Polyplectron germaini and Grey-faced Tit Babbler Macronous kelleyi. People belonging to a variety of ethnic groups inhabit Cat Loc and the national park buffer zone. Each of these groups have different land-use strategies and different impacts on the natural resources of the national park. The major threats to biodiversity at Cat Loc are conversion of forest land for agriculture, timber extraction, exploitation of non-timber forest products and hunting.
Key biodiversity
Non-bird biodiversity: The following primate species have been recorded at Cat Loc by Ling (2000): Long-tailed Macaque Macaca fascicularis, Stump-tailed Macaque Macaca arctoides, Black-shanked Douc Langur Pygathrix nigripes and Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon Nomascus gabrielle.Cat Loc supports a population of Lesser One-horned Rhinoceros Rhinoceros sondaicus estimated at 5-8 individuals (Ling, 2000). This is the only known population of this species in mainland Asia.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Cat Loc (Vietnam). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/cat-loc-iba-vietnam on 22/11/2024.