Cuc Phuong National Park Cuc Phuong is the first Vietnam national park, covers an area of about 22,000 hectares in three provinces of Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, and Hoa Binh. It is more than 100 km west south of Hanoi. To get there, tourists should get Vietnam visa on arrival at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi and them from Hanoi, go southwards along the National Highway 1A. At Gian Khau Crossing, turn right towards the Road 12B to reach Nho Quan District.

Cuc Phuong National Park, which is Vietnam’s fist nature preserve, is seen as a vast natural museum, a spectacular botanical garden and zoo park of Vietnam and of the world. As this site is a giant laboratory granted by the nature to human beings, it becomes a destination of a large number of Vietnamese and foreign scientists for research. Also, Cuc Phuong is known for interesting eco-tourist sites with many splendid caves and grottos, drawing a mass of domestic and foreign tourists.

With regard to flora alone, Cuc Phuong is home to 1944 species of flora from 219 families and 86 orders of 7 high-class flora branches with many rare plants, such as pedocarpus fleuryi, Cho (a tree with a straight trunk), beech, ebony, peltophore, teak, clove, and many other trees 5 to 6 meters in diameter and 40-70 meters tall, like the century-old Cho whose foot is beyond the hold of 16 people and the 70 m-tall Victory Cho with invisible top and enshrouded foliage.

Also, Cuc Phuong is home a wide range of rare . This zoo park has more than 450 species of vertibrate animals, including 64 species of beasts, 333 species of birds, 36 species of reptiles, 17 species of amphibious animals, and some species of fish. Some rare animals listed in the Red Book only can be found here, like Diec Hang fish (a kind of fish which lives in grottos) and red-bellied squirrel. Especially, Cuc Phuong is a tropical forest that has multiple layers and a substantial area of primeval. That holds the key to the conservation and development of this nature preserve.

Visitors to Cuc Phuong National Park will be surprised because this nature preserve is not only a botanical garden and a giant zoo park but it also groups spectacular caves and grottos of legendary names, like Vui Xuan (Spring Enjoy) Cave, Trang Khuyet (Crescent Moon) (Prehistoric man) Cave and Con Moong Cave are not simply charms of beauty, but here the archaeologists discovered stone tools of prehistoric humans and remains in ancient tombs dating back 7000 to 12500 years ago.

If you visit Cuc Phuong at dawn when the whole forest is being awakened by the echoes of wildlife intermixed with the sounds of blowing winds and leaves fall. The sounds of corpsewood produce a great symphony that brings visitors in tune with the nature.

The EPRC as training and research institution The center also serves as an important training and research facility for Vietnamese and foreign students and biologists. With its unique collection of endemic and highly endangered species the center provides excellent possibilities to study various species. They also support foreign students to apply Vietnam visa for research purpose easily. The EPRC has close relationships with several Vietnamese and foreign Universities and institutions. In cooperation with scientists of Universities in the US (University of Colorado, Boulder; Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience; John Hopkins University, Baltimore; Ohio University Collage of Osteopathic Medicine), several studies have been conducted on the locomotion of . In cooperation with the German Center, the of Vietnamese primates has been clarified – an important step for their successful conservation. New species like the grey-shanked langur and the Assamese silvered langur have been identified and the taxonomy of other species like the black langur, grey langur, eastern black crested gibbon, pygmy loris have been clarified on a molecular genetic basis. Food and nutrient studies have been carried out with biologists from Hanoi National University, Vietnam, University of Forestry Xuan Mai, Vietnam, University Cologne, Germany, and George Washington University, USA.

Animals Sat the EPRC Today the EPRC is home to more than 140 primates in 15 taxa (species and subspecies), including six species which are kept only at the EPRC and in no other facility in the world. These include the “Critically Endangered” grey-shanked douc langur, Delacour’s langur, Cat Ba langur and the “Endangered” Hatinh langur, black langur and Laos langur. Other than the captively bred primates, all of the animals at the EPRC are victims of poaching and the illegal trade. The animals are confiscated in cooperation with Vietnam’s forest protection authorities all over the country. Staff members often have to travel 1000 to 2000 km to pick up confiscated primates in remote areas in central or south Vietnam. Nine primate species have bred at the center and a total of more than 50 infants have been born. The first animals ever born in captivity for Delacour’s langur, Cat Ba langur, Hatinh langur and grey-shanked douc langur were born at the EPRC.

About The Endangered Primate Rescue Center The Endangered Primate Rescue Center (EPRC), located at Cuc Phuong National Park, southwest of Hanoi, Vietnam, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation, breeding, research, and conservation of endangered primates, and to the protection of their habitats.

The EPRC was established in 1993, with a Memorandum of Agreement by the Ministry of Forestry and concerned international conservation organizations, following the confiscation of “Critically Endangered” and “Endangered” primates with the beginning of the “Vietnam Primate Conservation Programme” of the Frankfurt Zoological Society. Since then, the center has been managed under the supervision of Frankfurt Zoological Society and continues to be a part of the Programme. The final goal of the EPRC is the establishment of stable populations of highly endangered primate species in captivity as a source for further reintroduction programs.

Facilities, equipment and staff at the EPRC The enclosures at the EPRC reflect scientific considerations and efforts to resemble the animals’ natural living conditions. The center provides veterinary care at international standards and has a well- equipped quarantine station with an operation room, a special section for infant care and a fully equipped technical workshop. The primates are kept in more than 40 large enclosures and in two electrically fenced semi-wild areas of primary forest which are 2 ha and 5 ha. The Vietnamese staff working at the center is encouraged not only to learn and work under foreign supervision but also to creatively contribute to the working process. The center employs 20 Vietnamese people as animal keepers. The majority of them have been recruited from the local villages and thus the center is an important contributor to the local livelihood.

Funding of the center’s work and activities Since its inception, the EPRC has been funded by donations from concerned organizations and individuals, mainly from overseas. This support has allowed the center to continue its work. The demand on funds increases with the constantly growing number of animals and an increase of protection activities, like the habitat protection at Van Long Nature Reserve, and the reintroduction project in Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park. The center and the continuation of its work depends upon the donations of organizations and individuals. The center also runs an “Adopt-A- Monkey-Program”.

Habitat protection and field work With the goal to reintroduce highly endangered primates bred at the center an important part of the work is to preserve and protect the natural habitats of these species. For the protection of their flagship species, the Delacour’s langur, the EPRC and the “Vietnam Primate Conservation Programme” of the Frankfurt Zoological Society have worked in close cooperation with the Management Board of Van Long Nature Reserve.

The Van Long Nature Reserve, located close to Cuc Phuong National Park, has been supported with its border markings of the area, construction of 5 ranger stations, continuous payment of staff wages, uniforms and equipment for 20 guards. Another focus species of the program is the “Critically Endangered” grey-shanked douc langur. There are field studies currently in progresses in central Vietnam and a Vietnamese biologist of the center is doing research on the grey-shanked douc langur for a PhD, under the supervision of Cambridge University, UK.

Within the “Vietnam Primate Conservation Programme” the center has conducted numerous field surveys to gather information about status, distribution and threats of Vietnamese primates as an important source of information for further conservation activities.

Reintroduction programs With the establishment of semi-wild enclosures the center has taken first steps towards its ambitious goal – the reintroduction of the primates to their natural habitat. Langurs and gibbons have been released into such areas and have been successfully maintained there for several years.

In 2005, construction of an 18 ha release site in Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park in central Vietnam began in cooperation with Cologne Zoo, Germany. The transfer of captively bred Hatinh langurs from the center back to their native distribution area in central Vietnam is planned for 2007.

The Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park is also the home of red-shanked douc langurs and southern white-cheeked gibbons. The experience with the Hatinh langurs and the management capacity can also be used for further reintroduction of these naturally occurring species.

The center’s contribution to awareness and education The center has greatly contributed largely to the public’s knowledge about Vietnamese primates and their perilous situations. Awareness has been raised in both visitors and local communities. Numerous national and foreign TV programs and newspaper articles have reported on the center’s work and the situation of the primates in the wild.

Source: Đặt khách sạn