Yok Don National Park

Established in 1992, Yok Don National Park is located in western Dak Lak Province bordering north-western Cambodia. The dominant habitat at Yok Don is deciduous dry dipterocarp forest with seasonal pools and areas of semi-evergreen forest along rivers and streams and low hills. The park is bisected by the Srepok River, a major tributary of the Mekong River.

Yok Don’s dry dipterocarp forest has a similar avifauna to that of north-western Cambodia and offers the birder a chance to see some birds that are otherwise difficult or impossible to find at other sites in Vietnam such as Black-headed Woodpecker, Alexandrine Parakeet, White-rumped Pygmy-falcon, Rufous Treepie and Mekong Wagtail.

A lot of luck would be needed however to find White-shouldered and Giant Ibis or Black-necked Stork while White-winged Duck, White-rumped and Red-headed Vultures have been recorded from the western section of the park that is closed to visitors.

Yok Don’s most wanted

Green Peafowl, White-winged Duck, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Rufous-bellied Woodpecker, Black-headed Woodpecker, Alexandrine Parakeet, White-rumped Vulture, Red-headed Vulture, White-rumped Pygmy-falcon, White-shouldered Ibis, Giant Ibis, Woolly-necked Stork, Black-necked Stork, Lesser Adjutant, Rufous Treepie, Mekong Wagtail.