Yok Don National Park (Vietnamese: ''Vườn quốc gia Yok Đôn'') is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

located in Krông Na commune, Buôn Đôn District, Đắk Lắk Province,

Tây Nguyên The Central Highlands (), South Central Highlands (), Western Highlands () or Midland Highlands () is a region located in the south central part of Vietnam. It contains the provinces of Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, and Lâ ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, 40 km west of

Buôn Ma Thuột Buôn Ma Thuột or sometimes Buôn Mê Thuột or Ban Mê Thuột (, ), is the capital city of Đắk Lắk Province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Its population was 434,256 in 2023. The city is the largest in the Central Highlands and k ...

city. The park was established in 1991 to protect 582 km² of a biological area of ''khộp'' lowland forest. The total area is 1,155.45 km² (not including a buffer zone of 1,138.9 km²). It borders Mondulkiri Protected Forest (Cambodia) to the west and is part of maybe the largest protected area complex in southeast Asia

Biodiversity

The vegetation at Yok Don National Park is dominated by a mosaic of deciduous forest and semi-evergreen (mixed deciduous) forest, with smaller areas of evergreen forest, particularly on hills and along watercourses. 474 vascular plant species have been recorded in the park. Yok Don National Park has one of the most biodiverse forest in Vietnam. This park is an important site for the conservation of globally endangered species such as

Indochinese tiger The Indochinese tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies that is native to Southeast Asia. This population occurs in Myanmar and Thailand. In 2011, the population was thought to comprise 342 individuals, including 85 in ...

Indochinese leopard The Indochinese leopard (''Panthera pardus delacouri'') is a leopard subspecies native to mainland Southeast Asia and southern China. In Indochina, leopards are rare outside protected areas and threatened by habitat loss due to deforestation as w ...

Indian elephant The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of three extant recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, native to mainland Asia. The species is smaller than the African elephant species with a convex back and the highest body po ...

and

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

. However, the population of the four species at the park have suffered major declines.

References

External links

Vietnam National Parks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yok Don National Park National parks of Vietnam Protected areas established in 1986 1986 establishments in Vietnam Geography of Đắk Lắk province