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Date: 2023

Location: Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam

Did you know?

Cat Tien National Park is located approximately 150km from Ho Chi Minh City. It has an area of about 720 square kilometers and protects one of the largest areas of lowland tropical forests left in Vietnam. Parts of the park area suffered historically during the Vietnam War when it was extensively sprayed with defoliant herbicides. However, substantial further damage was done by logging up until the 1990s. To this day these areas have extensive bamboo and grassland cover and trees have not yet grown back.

About the picture

The Blue-Winged Pitta is yet another species of Pitta found in Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam. This photo was taken in April 2023.

Fun Fact

Just outside the national park is the Cat Tien archeological site. Excavations carried out between 1994 and 2003 revealed a group of temples, belonging to a previously unknown Shaiva Hindu civilization which probably inhabited the area between the 4th century and 9th centuries AD.