In addition to flagship species such as the tiger and the elephant, the WWF Greater Mekong Programme also focuses on several other species of particular significance ecologically. What this means is that if these species were to be lost, the ecosystems they belong to would become much more vulnerable.

By focusing on these species, and by conserving the habitats that support them, we expect that most other species occurring in these areas will also be conserved.


This page lists important species that WWF focuses on in the Greater Mekong.

► Also check out here our flagship species in the region: tigers, elephants and more

A new species is discovered every 2 days on average in the Greater Mekong.

Find out more

Leopard

Ասիական կամ կովկասյան ընձառյուծ (Panthera pardus ciscaucasica), նկարված է թաքնված ֆոտոխցիկի միջողով 2007թ.ին Հայաստանում © WWF
  • Scientific name: Panthera pardus
  • Landscapes: Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam), Dawna-Tenasserim (Thailand/Myanmar)
  • Habitat: Tropical forests
  • Population: Decreasing globally
  • Status: Near threatened

Siamese crocodile

Siamese crocodile. Crocodylus siamensis. Thailand. © WWF
  • Scientific name: Crocodylus siamensis
  • Landscapes: Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam)
  • Habitat: Lowland freshwater habitats
  • Population: Less than 1,000
  • Status: Critically Endangered

Wild water buffalo

Water buffalo © WWF
  • Scientific name: Bubalus arnee
  • Landscapes: Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam)
  • Habitat: low-lying alluvial grasslands; riparian forests and woodlands; always near water
  • Population: est. 400-2,000 individuals
  • Status: Endangered

Lesser Adjutant

Greater adjutant have so far not been reliably recorded in Cambodia's Eastern Plains Landscape, but globally significant population exist around Cambodia's Tonle Sap lake and in northern Cambodia. © WWF
  • Scientific name: Leptoptilos javanicus
  • Landscapes: Siphandone, Stung Treng, Kratie (Cambodia/Laos)
  • Habitat: Deciduous dipterocarp forest and wetlands
  • Population: roughly 5,000 individuals
  • Status: Vulnerable

Vultures (Sarcogyps and Gyps)

A group of critically endangered red-headed and white-rumped vultures at a vulture restaurant in Mondulkiri Protected Forest, northeastern Cambodia. © WWF
  • Scientific name: Gyps bengalensis, Gyps tenuirostris, Sacrogyps calvus
  • Landscapes: Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam)
  • Habitat: Well-wooded hills and dry deciduous forest with rivers
  • Population: Numbers of all three species have plummeted. <10,000 individuals likely remain in South Asia, with possibly only several hundred of each species in the Greater Mekong.
  • Status: Critically Endangered, Critically Endangered

Banteng

Banteng were once widespread in Borneo but now they are confined to isolated forest reserves in Sabah and on the Sabah/Kalimantan border © WWF
  • Scientific name: Bos javanicus
  • Landscapes: Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam)
  • Habitat: open dry deciduous forests in Southeast Asia
  • Population: 2000-5000 individuals in the Eastern Plains; less than 8000 globally
  • Status: Endangered

Wild Pig

Wild pigs. © WWF
  • Scientific name: Sus scrofa
  • Landscapces: Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam), Dawna-Tenasserim (Thailand/Myanmar)
  • Habitat: Forested habitat
  • Population: Abundant globally
  • Status: Least concern

Red Muntjac

Red muntjac © WWF
  • Scientific name: Muntiacus muntjak
  • Landscapes: Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam), Dawna-Tenasserim (Thailand/Myanmar), Siphandone, Stung Treng, Kratie (Cambodia/Laos), Southern Laos / Central Vietnam
  • Habitat: Forest, included degraded forest; lowlands and altitudes up to 800m
  • Population: Decreasing
  • Status: Least concern

River Tern

  • Scientific name: Sterna aurantia
  • Landscapes: Siphandone, Stung Treng, Kratie (Cambodia/Laos)
  • Habitat: Rivers; breeding on sand-banks
  • Population: Est. 50,000 and 100,000 individuals globally
  • Status: Near threatened

Dhole

A camera trap photo of a dhole (Asiatic wild dog) taken in the dry forests of Mondulkiri Protected Forest in northeastern Cambodia's Eastern Plains Landscape © WWF
  • Scientific name: Cuon alpinus
  • Landscapes: Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam), Dawna-Tenasserim (Thailand/Myanmar)
  • Habitat: tropical dry forest, moist deciduous forest; evergreen and semi-evergreen forests; dry thorn forests; grassland–scrub–forest mosaics; and alpine steppe
  • Population: Decreasing
  • Status: Endangered

Eld's Deer

Eld's deer (Cervus eldii, sub-species siamensis). © WWF
  • Scientific name: Rucervus eldii
  • Landscapes: Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam)
  • Habitat: primarily open, grass dominated habitats, deciduous dipterocarp forest
  • Population: <1000 globally
  • Status: Endangered

Sarus Crane

Sarus crane. © WWF
  • Scientific name: Grus antigone
  • Landscapes: Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam)
  • Habitat: Wetlands including seasonal wetland in deciduous dipterocarp forest
  • Population: Declining globally. Indochinese population estimated 700-900 birds
  • Status: Vulnerable

Black shanked Douc

Black-shanked douc (Pygathrix nigripes) © WWF
  • Scientific name: Pygathrix nigripes
  • Landscapes: Southern Annamites, Eastern Plains
  • Habitat: Evergreen forests
  • Population: Decreasing
  • Status: Endangered

Red and Grey-shanked Douc

The endangered Red-shanked Douc Langur. © WWF
  • Scientific name: Pygathrix nemaeus, Pygathrix cinerea
  • Landscapes: Southern Laos / Central Vietnam
  • Habitat: undisturbed primary and secondary evergreen and semi-evergreen broadleaf forests
  • Population: Decreasing
  • Status: Endangered, Critically Endangered

Crested argus

Crested Argus. © WWF
  • Scientific name: Rheinardia ocellata
  • Landscapes: Southern Laos / Central Vietnam
  • Habitat: primary and secondary evergreen forest; degraded forest
  • Population: 6,000-15,000
  • Status: Near threatened

Gaur

Gaur is the largest wild cattle species in the world. There are 37 gaurs in the Parsa Wildlife Reserve and 296 gaurs in the Chitwan National Park. © WWF
  • Scientific name: Bos gaurus
  • Landscapes: Dawna-Tenasserim (Thailand/Myanmar), Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam), Southern Laos
  • Habitat: Semievergreen and evergreen forests from sea level up to at least 2,800 m
  • Population: 5,200–18,000 mature individuals
  • Status: Vulnerable

Sambar

Female Sambar (Cervus unicolor) deer in tall grass. © WWF
  • Scientific name: Rusa unicolor
  • Landscapes: Dawna-Tenasserim (Thailand/Myanmar), Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam)
  • Habitat: wide variety of forest type and habitats, including dense evergreen forest and alpine zone woodlands
  • Population: Decreasing
  • Status: Vulnerable

Asiatic Black Bear

Young Sunbear (Helarctos malayanus). © WWF
  • Scientific name: Ursus thibetanus
  • Landscapes: Dawna-Tenasserim (Thailand/Myanmar)
  • Habitat: a variety of forested habitats, both broad-leaved and coniferous, from near sea level to 4,300 m
  • Population: Decreasing
  • Status: Vulnerable

Hornbills

Rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros). © WWF
  • Scientific name: Aceros nipalensis, Anorrhinus austeni, Buceros bicornis
  • Landscapes Dawna-Tenasserim (Thailand/Myanmar), Southern Laos / Central Vietnam
  • Habitat: Dry forests
  • Population: Decreasing
  • Status: Vulnerable, Near-threatened, Near-threatened, respectively

White-shouldered Ibis

White-shouldered Ibis © WWF
  • Scientific name: Pseudibis davisoni
  • Landscapes: Siphandone, Stung Treng, Kratie (Cambodia/Laos) Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam)
  • Habitat: Deciduous dipterocarp forest and river channels
  • Population: 731-856 individuals; >75% in Cambodia
  • Status: Critically Endangered

Fea’s Muntjac, Annamite Muntjac

  • Scientific name: Muntiacus feae, Muntiacus truongsonensis
  • Landscapes: Southern Laos/ Central Vietnam
  • Habitat: evergreen forest in the hills and mountains of the Annamite mountain range in Laos and Vietnam
  • Population: Decreasing
  • Status: Data Deficient, Data Deficient

Large-antlered Muntjac

  • Scientific name: Muntiacus vuquangensis
  • Dawna-Tenasserim (Thailand/Myanmar), Southern Laos/ Central Vietnam
  • Habitat: evergreen forest in the hills and mountains of the Annamite mountain range in Laos and Vietnam
  • Population: unknown but assumed to be decreasing and possibly <1,000 individuals
  • Status: Endangered

GREY-HEADED FISH EAGLE

Grey-headed fish eagle © WWF
  • Scientific name: Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus
  • Landscapes: Siphandone, Stung Treng, Kratie (Cambodia/Laos)
  • Habitat: Large rivers
  • Population: estimated 15,000-150,000 individuals in total
  • Status: Near threatened

INDOCHINESE SILVERED LANGUR

Indochinese silvered langur © WWF
  • Scientific name: Trachypithecus germaini
  • Landscapes: Siphandone, Stung Treng, Kratie (Cambodia/Laos)
  • Habitat: Semi-evergreen and riverine forest
  • Population: Unknown; Cambodia supports largest global population
  • Status: Endangered

Hairy-nosed Otter

Hairy-nosed otter © WWF
  • Scientific name: Lutra sumatrana
  • Landscapes: Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam)
  • Habitat: freshwater and coastal areas, mangroves, peat swamp forests
  • Population: Decreasing
  • Status: Endangered

Sun Bear

  • Scientific name: Helarctos malayanus
  • Landscapes: Dawna-Tenasserim (Thailand/Myanmar), Eastern Plains (Cambodia/Vietnam)
  • Habitat: tropical forests as well as seasonal ecosystems with a long dry season
  • Population: Decreasing
  • Status: Vulnerable