Orange-necked Hill Partridge. © Nguyen Tran Vy.

Germain's Peacock Pheasant Polyplectron germaini and Orange-necked Partridge Arborophila davidi are globally range-restricted species, found in South Viet Nam and Eastern Cambodia (Robson, 2011). Both are listed as Near Threatened (IUCN, 2013). Their populations are reported as have been declining severely due to high levels of hunting across its range and habitat loss and fragmentation resulting from commercial logging and resettlement programmes. Their main populations probably exist only in remnant patchy forests such as National Parks, Nature Reserves as a result of extensive deforestation, especially herbicide spraying during the war in Viet Nam, and unofficial timber collection ((Fuller R.A, et al, 2000). A lack of information regarding their distribution, population status, general ecology, and habitat requirements is considered a major obstacle in preparing effective conservation and management action plan for these species in the long-term.

Therefore, this project will be carried out in Cat Tien National Park (NP) (N 11o20’50’’ – 11o50’20”, E 107o09’05” – 107o35’20”). Cat Tien NP is located in three provinces: Dong Nai, Lam Dong, and Binh Phuoc, Southern Viet Nam. The first objective of this research is to access the population status of Germain's Peacock Pheasant and Orange-necked Partridge in different habitat types like broadleaf forest, mixed forest, bamboo, and mosaic forest (including the three previous habitat types)in Cat Tien National Park by using line transect method.

The other objective is to determine the important ecological variables, affecting distribution of the species in Cat Tien NP. This information will be combined with GIS analysis to predict the potential distribution, showing potential sites which might contain a possible population of both species to be surveyed in the future. All information will be combined in order to make a management action plan and a long-term monitoring program to protect these species. This will help to supplement information gaps of these species and simultaneously develop a long-term monitoring program and conservation action plan for the species in Cat Tien National Park.

Header: Adult female of Germain’s Peacock Pheasant in the Cat Tien National Park. ©Nguyen Tran Vy.