Large mammal diversity of Vietnam’s Chu Yang Sin National Park and the first experimental assessment of their vulnerability to snaring
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9807.18.5.28739-28749Keywords:
Annamite Mountains, mammals, snare, snaring, Chu Yang Sin National Park, Large-antlered Muntjac, tropical forests, Indochina, camera-trapping, poachingAbstract
The Annamite Mountains of Indochina have high mammal endemism but also face a mammalian extinction crisis, primarily from the indiscriminate use of snares. Chu Yang Sin National Park in the southern Annamites of Vietnam is one of the few forests in Vietnam where the Critically Endangered Annamite endemic Large-antlered Muntjac is predicted to be present. The objectives of this study were to experimentally investigate and quantify the relative impact of snaring on local mammal populations by using camera trapping, with a focus on muntjac, and to provide a checklist of the large mammal species of the park. In 2020, a preliminary survey was executed to determine a study site in the park by observing the prevalence of signs indicative of large mammals. From December 2020 to February 2021, a 515-m long simulated continuous snare-line was constructed at the study site by five experienced local hunters. Camera-traps were then set up along 240-m of the snare-line to monitor animal movement. A total of 4,747 working camera-trap nights were logged and recorded the Large-antlered Muntjac and 10 other large mammal species along the snare-line. It was found that the Large-antlered Muntjac was more vulnerable to snares relative to the other mammals detected, exhibiting the highest probability of being ‘captured’ by a snare if an individual animal encountered the snare-line (p = 0.67). The finding suggests, as already theorized, that prolonged exposure to a snare-line will greatly reduce local large mammal populations, because with repeated encounters by an individual animal, the probability of capture increases close to p = 1. The study demonstrates here for the first time how some species are potentially more susceptible to snaring than others. Building on the experimental approach, future research could yield new insights into managing snare hunting more efficiently, using more data from other locations and over longer periods.
References
Alexiou, I., J.F. Abrams, C.N.Z. Coudrat, C. Nanthavong, A. Nguyen, J. Niedballa, A. Wilting & A. Tilker (2022). Camera-trapping reveals new insights in the ecology of three sympatric muntjacs in an overhunted biodiversity hotspot. Mammalian Biology 102(2): 489–500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00248-0
BirdLife International (2010). The biodiversity of Chu Yang Sin National Park, Dak Lak Province, Vietnam. BirdLife International in Indochina, Hanoi, Vietnam, 207 pp.
Branch, T.A., A.S. Lobo & S.W. Purcell (2013). Opportunistic exploitation: an overlooked pathway to extinction. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 28(7): 409–413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2013.03.003
Brodie, J.F., O.E. Helmy, W.Y. Brockelman & J.L. Maron (2009). Functional differences within a guild of tropical mammalian frugivores. Ecology 90(3): 688–698. https://doi.org/10.1890/08-0111.1
Conrad, K. (2012). Trade bans: a perfect storm for poaching? Tropical Conservation Science 5(3): 245–254. https://doi.org/10.1177/194008291200500302
Corlett, R.T. (2007). The impact of hunting on the mammalian fauna of tropical Asian forests. Biotropica 39(3): 292–303. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2007.00271.x
Coudrat, C.N.Z. (2022). The Annamite Mountains — A Biodiverse Ecosystem at Risk: A Case Study in Nakai – Nam Theun National Park, Lao P.D.R., pp. 583–596. In: DellaSala, D.A. & M.I. Goldstein (eds.): Imperiled: The Encyclopedia of Conservation. Elsevier, 2608 pp. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00080-5
Dang, H.H, V.T. Dao, V.S. Cao, T.A. Pham & M.K. Hoang (1994). Checklist of Mammals in Vietnam. Publishing House “Science & Technics”, Hanoi, 168 pp. (In Vietnamese)
Dobson, A.D.M., E.J. Milner-Gulland, D.J. Ingram & A. Keane (2019). A framework for assessing impacts of wild meat hunting practices in the tropics. Human Ecology 47(3): 449–464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-019-0075-6
Drury, R. (2009). Reducing urban demand for wild animals in Vietnam: examining the potential of wildlife farming as a conservation tool. Conservation Letters 2(6): 263–270. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2009.00078.x
Duckworth, J.W., R.E. Salter & K. Khounboline (compilers) (1999). Wildlife in Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report. IUCN-The World Conservation Union / Wildlife Conservation Society / Centre for Protected Areas and Watershed Management, Vientiane, 289 pp.
Duckworth, J.W. & D.M. Hills (2008). A specimen of Hairy-nosed Otter Lutra sumatrana from far northern Myanmar. IUCN Otter Specialist Group Bulletin 25(1): 60–67.
Duckworth, J.W., G. Batters, J.L. Belant, E.L. Bennett, J. Brunner, J. Burton, D.W.S. Challender, V. Cowling, N. Duplaix, J.D. Harris, S. Hedges, B. Long, S.P. Mahood, P.J.K. McGowan, W.J. McShea, W.L.R. Oliver, S. Perkin, B.M. Rawson, C.R. Shepherd, S.N. Stuart, B.K. Talukdar, P.P. van Dijk, J-C. Vié, J.L. Walston, T. Whitten & R. Wirth (2012). Why South-east Asia should be the world’s priority for averting imminent species extinctions, and a call to join a developing cross-institutional programme to tackle this urgent issue. Surveys and Perspectives Integrating Environment and Society 5(2): 77–95.
Francis, C.M. (2017). Mammals of South-East Asia. Bloomsbury Publishing, 128 pp.
Giordano, A.J. (2022). Clouded Leopards (Neofelis sp.): Biology and Conservation, pp. 121–136. In: DellaSala, D.A. & M.I. Goldstein (eds.). Imperiled: The Encyclopedia of Conservation. Elsevier, 2608 pp. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00213-0
Gray, T.N.E. (2013). Activity patterns and home ranges of Indochinese Leopard Panthera pardus delacouri in the eastern plains Landscape, Cambodia. The Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society 59(1): 39–47.
Gray, T.N.E., A.C. Hughes, W.F. Laurance, B. Long, A.J. Lynam, H. O’Kelly, W.J. Ripple, T. Seng, L. Scotson, N.M. Wilkinson (2018). The wildlife snaring crisis: an insidious and pervasive threat to biodiversity in southeast Asia. Biodiversity and Conservation 27(4): 1031–1037. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-017-1450-5
Gray, T.N.E., A.J. Lynam, T. Seng, W.F. Laurance, B. Long, L. Scotson & W.J. Ripple (2017). Wildlife-snaring crisis in Asian forests. Science 355(6322): 255–256. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal4463
Hall, R. (1998). The plate tectonics of Cenozoic SE Asia and the distribution of land and sea, pp. 99–131. In: Hall, R. & J.D. Holloway (eds.). Biogeography and Geological Evolution of SE Asia. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, 445 pp.
Harrison, R.D., R. Sreekar, J.F. Brodie, S. Brook, M. Luskin, H. O’Kelly, M. Rao, B. Scheffers & N. Velho (2016). Impacts of hunting on tropical forests in southeast Asia. Conservation Biology 30(5): 972–981. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12785
Hoffmann, M., A. Abramov, H.M. Duc, L.T. Trai, B. Long, A. Nguyen, T.S. Nguyen, B. Rawson, R.J. Timmins, V.B. Tran & D. Willcox (2019). The status of wild canids (Canidae, Carnivora) in Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(8): 13951–13959. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4846.11.8.13951-13959
Hughes, A.C. (2017). Understanding the drivers of Southeast Asian biodiversity loss. Ecosphere 8(1): 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1624
IUCN (2023). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2023-1. https://www.iucnredlist.org. Accessed on 02.iv.2025.
Myers, N., R.A. Mittermeier, C.G. Mittermeier, G.A.B. da Fonseca & J. Kent (2000). Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403(6772): 853–858. https://doi.org/10.1038/35002501
Nguyen, A., A. Tilker, D. Le, J. Niedballa, L. Pflumm, X.H. Pham, V.S. Le, H.T. Luu, V.B. Tran, S. Kramer-Schadt, R. Sollmann & A. Wilting (2024). Ground‐dwelling mammal and bird diversity in the southern Annamites: Exploring complex habitat associations and the ghost of past hunting pressure. Conservation Science and Practice 6(4): e13093. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13093
Nguyen, T.A.M. & R.J. Timmins (2020). Yellow-bellied Weasel Mustela kathiah breeding in peri-urban Dalat City, southern Vietnam. Small Carnivore Conservation 58: 90–95 [e58002]. https://smallcarnivoreconservation.com/index.php/sccg/issue/view/234/63
O’Kelly, H.J., J.M. Rowcliffe, S. Durant & E.J. Milner‐Gulland (2018). Experimental estimation of snare detectability for robust threat monitoring. Ecology and Evolution 8(3): 1778–1785. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3655
Rija, A.A., R. Critchlow, C.D. Thomas & C.M. Beale (2020). Global extent and drivers of mammal population declines in protected areas under illegal hunting pressure. PLOS ONE 15(8): e0227163. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227163
Sodhi, N.S., M.R.C. Posa, T.M. Lee, D. Bickford, L.P. Koh & B.W. Brook (2010). The state and conservation of Southeast Asian biodiversity. Biodiversity and Conservation 19(2): 317–328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-009-9607-5
Sukmasuang, R., W. Suksavate, N. Songsasen, N. Khiowsree, K. Charaspet, M. Pla-ard, Y. Chanachai, W. Thomas & K. Srinopawan (2020). Home range, movement and habitat selection of dholes (Cuon alpinus) in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. Biodiversitas 21(12): 5915–5926. https://doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d211257
Tilker, A., K. Katharina, A. Nguyen, A. Wilting, A. Nguyen, T.A. Nguyen, M. Le, T. Nguyen, T. McCormack, B. Pham, L. Nguyen; T. Cao, T. Gray, P. Sinovas, O. Robert, C. Coudrat, H. Thien, P. Nguyen, H. Vu, T. Nguyen, A. Maheshwari, O. Wearn, R.J. Timmins, P. Phonesouk, V. Sengmany, M. Nguyen, L. Hoang, A. Bousa, Q. Le, T. Vo, R. Gray, T. Pham, V. Ha, T. Lo, B. Long & T. Nguyen (in press). Overlooked and endangered: status and conservation of the large-antlered muntjac Muntiacus vuquangensis. Oryx.
Timmins, R.J., K. Kawanishi, B. Giman, A. Lynam, B. Chan, R. Steinmetz, H.S. Baral & N.S. Kumar (2015). Rusa unicolor. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: E.T41790A85628124. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T41790A22156247.en. Downloaded on 29.v.2024.
Timmins, R.J., J.W. Duckworth, W. Robichaud, B. Long, T.N.E. Gray & A. Tilker (2016). Muntiacus vuquangensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: E.T44703A22153828. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T44703A22153828.en. Downloaded on 3.iv.2024.
WCS (2024). Wildlife in Lao PDR: 2024 Status Report. Wildlife Conservation Society Lao PDR Program, Vientiane, Laos, 211 pp.
Wilcox, D.H.A., P.Q. Tran, D.M. Hoang & A.T.T. Nguyen (2014). The decline of non-Panthera cat species in Vietnam. Cat News 8: 53–61.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Minh Thi Anh Nguyen, Thuy Thi Bich Vo, Quy Tan Le, Vy Tran Nguyen, Vu Linh Nguyen, R.J. Timmins, Anthony J. Giordano
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors own the copyright to the articles published in JoTT. This is indicated explicitly in each publication. The authors grant permission to the publisher Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society to publish the article in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors recognize WILD as the original publisher, and to sell hard copies of the Journal and article to any buyer. JoTT is registered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows authors to retain copyright ownership. Under this license the authors allow anyone to download, cite, use the data, modify, reprint, copy and distribute provided the authors and source of publication are credited through appropriate citations (e.g., Son et al. (2016). Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the southeastern Truong Son Mountains, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(7): 8953–8969. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969). Users of the data do not require specific permission from the authors or the publisher.
