Vietnam is a country blessed with incredible scenery, temples, culture, and history. It is also home to a good range of exotic animals like leopard geckos, elephants, monkeys, and sun bears. These are only a few animals that call Vietnam home. Excluding zoos are there tigers in Vietnam?
Unfortunately, tigers in Vietnam are considered functionally extinct. This is mainly due to the fact that the tigers were hunted for their skin, bones, teeth, and claws, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine and even used to make jewelry. This demand for parts of tigers has consistently increased every year.
In this post, we will go through whether there are tigers in Vietnam and more. Let’s get started!
Learn More About Vietnam
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- How Much Does Beer Cost in Vietnam?
- Is Weed Legal In Vietnam?
- Is Phu Quoc Expensive?
- Can You Drink Tap Water in Vietnam?
- Is Hue Worth Visiting?
What Kind Of Tigers Are In Vietnam?
The Indochinese tiger is native to Vietnam. These tigers are also found in Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and China. Unfortunately, the Indochinese tiger is considered critically endangered.
Vietnam has passed laws to protect the tigers making it illegal to hunt, trap, kill, transport, sell or advertise tigers or tiger products within Vietnam.
Are There Tigers In Vietnam?
Today, tigers in Vietnam are considered functionally extinct. Functionally extinct means that there are no longer any breeding tigers left in the wild in Vietnam. Once tigers did well in Vietnam but there have become extinct in the wild because they were relentlessly hunted. A loss of habitat is also a factor.
The relentless hunting is fuelled by the ever-increasing demand for traditional Chinese medicine and jewelry. Which uses tiger skin, bones, teeth, and claws.
In 2019, Vietnam passed laws to help protect the Indochinese tiger, an endangered species. The law makes it illegal to hunt, kill, transport, sell, or advertise any tigers or tiger products within Vietnam.
What Did The Indochinese Tiger In Vietnam Look Like?
The Indochinese tigers have a gold/orange coat with black stripes. The male tiger’s height can range from 2.54 meters to 2.84 meters. Their weight can range from 145 kg to 195 kg. While female tigers’ height can range from 2.29 meters to 2.54 meters. Their weight can range from 100 kg to 130 kg.
What Did The Tigers Eat In Vietnam?
The Indochinese tigers hunt at night but they get their food from killing and eating other animals such as monkeys, deer, and wild boars.
Are There Any Vietnam Tigers Left?
Unfortunately, the Indochinese tiger is functionally extinct but in 2011 it is thought that only 20 tigers lived in the wild in Vietnam.
Were There Tigers In Vietnam During The Vietnam War?
By the time of the Vietnam War, the tiger population was already under threat. Yes, there were tigers in Vietnam during the war and were even considered a threat to humans and soldiers.
Do Elephants Live In Vietnam?
Vietnam does have elephants. The elephant population has been dropping every year since records began. They estimate that there are less than 100 elephants living in the wild. They live mainly in the Central Highlands area in Vietnam which contains the provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nông, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, and Lâm Đồng.
USEFUL TRAVEL RESOURCES
Book Accommodation
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Booking Flight
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Booking Transportation & Things To Do
Rome2rio and 12Go are useful to plan how to get anywhere by searching train, bus, car, and ferry routes. Especially useful in countries like Vietnam or Thailand. While Klook is great for exploring things to do in each place.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is cheap and more than likely you will never need to use it but you will have peace of mind if something does happen, you are covered in case of an emergency. World Nomads have great customer service and competitive prices.
Check out our resource page for the best companies to use when you travel.
Wrapping Up
Finally, tigers in Vietnam are considered functionally extinct. This is mainly due to the fact that the tigers were hunted for their skin, bones, teeth, and claws, which are used in traditional medicine and even used to make jewelry. This demand for parts of tigers has consistently increased every year.
And that’s it for now! I’d love it if this post on whether are there tigers in Vietnam was helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions and let me know if there is more to add.