Vietnam (Apr 2025)
Ophiophagus hannah
Sa Pa
View from a cafe in Sa Pa
Our second trip to Vietnam started off in the very north, not far from the border with Mainland China. Greeted with beautiful views and delicious food, we spent 4 nights in this particular location accompanied by Jesse, Lowzi and Phuong.
Sa Pa is a picturesque town nestled in the northern mountains of Vietnam, known for its stunning natural beauty, rich cultural diversity, and vibrant landscapes. Situated in Lao Cai Province, Sa Pa is part of the Hoàng Liên Son mountain range. The area is famous for its terraced rice fields, rolling hills, and the towering Fansipan Mountain, the highest peak in Vietnam.
It was rather dry and it got pretty cold, especially when we stayed near Fansipan Mountain, but long hikes and a lot of effort put into herping paid off as we encountered the main target, Bourret’s pit viper (Protobothrops jerdonii ssp. bourreti), and not just one but three of them! Absolutely stunning vipers, way more impressive when seen live rather than on photos.
Gumprecht’s green pit vipers (Trimeresurus gumprechti) were rather common in Sa Pa, and we were blessed with a sighting of an Ovophis cf. zhaoermii. Hampton’s slug snakes (Pareas hamptoni), a pre-shed Namdong wolf snake (Lycodon chapaensis), a Vietnam water snake (Hebius chapaensis) and mountain water snakes (Trimerodytes percarinatus) also made their appearance.
Frogs didn’t come in huge numbers, but we did see some, especially near streams. Some examples below.
Highlands are usually not great when it comes to invertebrate numbers, but if you do end up seeing something, it’s almost always unique. Artur set up his moth light and, sure enough, lovely moths and beetles came right to it. That particular night was rather windy and chilly, and the morning brought torrential rain.
The team in Sa Pa
Cuc Phuong
Cúc Phương National Park
Not sure how to comment on this? Seen on the way to Cuc Phuong (excuse the quality).
After the chills of the highlands we were first supposed to head towards Pu Luong, but with the reports of temperatures exceeding 40C during the day and the forecast predicting rainfall in a few days, Lowzi suggested we visited Cuc Phuong first. It was still rather hot, but bearable.
Cúc Phương National Park, located in Ninh Bình Province, Vietnam, is the country's first national park, established in 1962. Nestled between the Red River Delta and the northwest mountains, it covers approximately 25,000 hectares. The park features a rich variety of flora and fauna, including many endemic and endangered species. It’s home to over 300 species of birds, 100 species of mammals, and numerous reptiles and amphibians.
But overall, we must say that it disappoints. There is much more to see in the Endangered Primate Rescue Center, Carnivore & Pangolins Conservation Centre and Turtle Conservation Centre than in the forest. It seemed like most animals have been poached - even birds were quiet (or simply absent). We saw more mammals on the restaurant menus than in the national park, which is rather upsetting. Dong Nai in the south left a much better impression on us.
A TINY PART of a turtle enclosure in the Turtle Conservation Centre, Cuc Phuong. We were really impressed by the excellent living conditions provided for these animals, probably the best we’ve seen worldwide.
A beautiful turtle mural in the Turtle Conservation Centre.
Saying all this, we did not leave empty-handed. We unfortunately didn’t see our snake targets, horned pit viper (Protobothrops cornutus) and flower snake (Elaphe moellendorffi) but, thanks to Jesse’s eagle eyes and great timing, we got a chance to spend some time with a gorgeous male king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah).
Ophiophagus hannah
Apart for this, we encountered a few slug snakes (Pareas baiseensis and most likely Pareas formosensis), Vietnamese big-toothed wolf snake (Lycodon meridionalis), Chinese green tree viper (Trimeresurus stejnegeri) and North China green snake (Ptyas multicincta).
It gets pretty exciting frogwise. Artur dreamt to see the Vietnamese mossy frog (Theloderma corticale) and his dreams came true!
Theloderma corticale
Other frog species were around too.
Since Cuc Phuong is at much lower elevation, invertebrate widlife was much richer than in Sa Pa. We found quite a few jumping spider species, one of which was allegedly not seen by scientists working with Vietnamese species before and is likely to be an Epeus sp. (see below). While exploring a cave, we encountered many tarantulas (Cyriopagopus schmidti), which was really cool as we used to keep them as pets two decades ago. There were fewer moths but beetles and other arachnids made up for it.
Pu Luong
Pu Luong Nature Reserve
Our final destination was supposed to be Ba Vi National Park, but because of a wildfire that broke out just before our planned arrival date, we had to change our plans. We stayed in Pu Luong one extra night and then spent the last night closer to Hanoi.
The first day in Pu Luong was indeed boiling hot, it was impossible to breathe due to the heat. Luckily, we spent nights herping streams in the forest, where the temperatures were much more human-friendly.
In terms of snake species, we encountered a Vietnamese bronzeback (Dendrelaphis ngansonensis), brown spotted pit viper (Protobothrops mucrosquamatus), different Boiga spp., banded kraits (Bungarus fasciatus) - one of which was a fresh kill and the other was really close to it, red-banded snake (Lycodon rufozonatus) and Vietnam water snake (Hebius chapaensis) among others.
Frogs weren’t overly abundant except for dark-sided chorus frogs (Microhyla heymonsi). Their chirps could be heard absolutely everywhere from the leaf litter. A huge Chinese flying frog (Zhangixalus dennysi) perched on a branch was a nice amphibian highlight of this leg of the trip.
Although while walking the stream invertebrate life is usually rather limited to either the water and surrounding rocks or the plants growing around it and so we didn’t expect much, we were very lucky to finally see an orchid mantis (Hymenopus coronatus). It was eluding us for years. An absolutely stunning animal!
Some other inverts were around too, seen not only near the stream but also during short walks near rice fields and on our moth trap.
On the way back from Pu Luong, we made a stop not far off Hanoi to seach for Cyclocosmia latusicosta. The population we saw lives in a severely distrubed habitat and it’s actually a miracle they are still around!
Cyclocosmia latusicosta are trapdoor spiders with abdomens that are abruptly truncated, ending in a hardened disc that is strengthened by a system of ribs and grooves. They use it to clog the entrance of their burrows, a phenomenon called phragmosis (see the third picture below).
After a short and uneventful herping on our last night, we explored the town we stayed in and we were shocked to see an astonishing amount of wildlife offered on the menu in restaurants. We also saw our first porcupine in Vietnam, it wasn’t exactly what one would hope for though…
Menu in a local restaurant
The only porcupine we saw on this trip
