There are many interesting things that can be seen at the Yok Don Wildlife Sanctuary, while the most interesting thing that may unknown to many people is that this is the place where the dipterocarp forest ecosystem is preserved.
The Yok Don National Park, belonging to Buon Don and Ea Sup districts of Dak Lak province, is 40 kilometers far from Buon Ma Thuot City. The national park was established 1992. This is one of the biggest wildlife sanctuaries in Vietnam with the total area of 115,545 hectares.
The only dipterocarp forest ecosystem is preserved
Considered the national park with the largest area in Vietnam, Yok Don is also the only area in Vietnam which can preserve the dipterocarp ecosystem.
According to the Vietnam National Tourism Administration (VNAT), dipterocarp forest is dry and thin forest, which includes Dipterocarpaceae trees which shed their leaves in the dry season. In the rainy season, grass and vegetation layers develop strongly which serve as the food resources for animals.
Therefore, the Yok Don National Park, where there are many hidden things, is really attractive to travelers and scientists with the richness and originality of the nature. Here one can see the great forests aged thousands of years which are the typical characteristic of South East Asian tropical forests, and the moist verdant forests which consist of a lot of types of precious wood like pterocarpus and barian kingwood. 90 percent of forests are virgin forests, ideal for vegetation and animals. Here the virgin forests account for 90 percent of the total area of the national park, which serves as the ideal living environment for the vegetations and animals. According to Yok Don National Park, there are 67 species of mammals, 196 birds, 46 reptiles, 15 amphibians and about 100 species of insects living there. The wild animals here are really rich and diversified which bear the typical characteristics of the fauna in South East Asia. Thirty six species of rare animals out of the 56 species of Indochina’s rare animals are living in Yok Don. Of these, 17 species have been listed in the world’s red book, such as elephant, buffalo, spotted deer, chamois, pheasant, and phoenix.
This is the place for globally endangered animals such as Bos sauveli, Megamuntiacus vuquangensis, Cervus eldi, Bos javanicus, Elephas maximus, Panthera tigris, Cuon alpinus and Pygathris nigripes to reside.
Preliminary research shows that Yok Don is one of the places which have the most diversified bird fauna in Indochina. The flora here is also very rich and diverse with 464 species, including many species found only in the Central Highlands. It also gathers a lot of rare flowers. Orchids alone have over 23 species, with different beautiful colors.
Yok Don the ideal excursion point
The Yok Don National Park is also home to keep a lot of special cultural values of the Central Highlands ethnic groups such as Ede, M'Nong, Laos ... In the dry season, despite scorching sun of the Central Highlands, the national park still keeps cool like in the foggy land of Da Lat. Meanwhile, visitors can enjoy the attractive scent from the orchids all year round.
Buon Don still can preserve many traditional houses on stilts with beautiful and elaborately carved features which show skilful hands and creativeness of the local residents. Buon Don has also been well known for hunting and taming elephants. The travelers can see with their eyes the tools used to hunt for elephants and can ride elephants to visit the large forests, or together with the elephants cross the Serepok River, which unlike other rivers, flows from the east to the west.