Asian Animals Bhutan and Cambodia

Wildlife of Bhutan

The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small Asian country. On the south, east, and west it is bordered by India and then north by China. The country is located on the slopes and foothills of the eastern Himalayas and has diverse habitats from tropical lowlands to deciduous and pine forests to alpine terrain.

Official National Animal

The Takin figures prominently in Bhutanese mythology. Takins are unique-looking animals that resemble both goats and cattle.

Native Animals

Himalayan wolves are a species of canines inhabiting the Himalayas, Central Asian highlands, and the Tibetan Plateau.

Tibetan gazelles are a species of antelopes that are native to the Tibetan Plateau.

Sloth bears are a species of bears native to the Indian subcontinent.

Himalayan gorals are a bovid species native to the Himalayas.

Indian rhinoceroses are a rhinoceros species found throughout the Indian subcontinent.

Clouded leopards are a large species of wild cats found in the dense forests of the Himalayas.

Binturongs are strange animals known as bearcats. They are native to South and Southeast Asia.

Bharals are known as blue sheep and are a species of sheep native to Bhutan, China, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Myanmar.

Bengal tigers are among the most iconic Asian animals. They’re part of the world’s charismatic megafauna, a group of large and emblematic species with popular appeal.

Yellow-throated martens are a species of martens native to Asia.

Asian elephants are a species of elephants native to Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Indian muntjac or barking deer is a species of deer native to South and Southeast Asia.

Red pandas are native to the eastern part of the Himalayas and South China.

Wildlife of Cambodia

Cambodia is an Asian country with immense biodiversity and lush forests. It shares borders with Laos to the north, Thailand to the north and west, Vietnam to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the south. Its landscape includes low-lying forests and plains that are surrounded by hills and mountains with the largest range being the Cardamom Mountains. Through the middle of the country flows the Mekong River. The Tonle Sap connects with the Mekong through the Tonle Sap River and is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.

Official National Animals

Kouprey

Giant ibis

Northern river terrapin

Giant barb

Cambodia has seven national parks and many wildlife sanctuaries and protected areas.

Botum Sakor National Park is in the south of Cambodia, near the Gulf of Thailand. It is the largest protected area in the country. The park encompasses a peninsula of verdant grasslands, woodlands, swamps, and mangroves next to the Cardamom Mountains.

Wildlife making their homes here include primates, pangolins, wild cats, deer, otters, and other mammals.

Virachey National Park is classified as an ASEAN Heritage Park and the Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary encompasses dense isolated jungles and mountain forests in the northeast.

Wildlife here includes leopards, sun bears, dholes, muntjacs, peafowl, storks, ibises, hornbills, and other rare mammals and birds.

Khulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary consists of lowland forests and swamps to the north near the border with Thailand. This is home to the endangered giant ibis and other unique birds and wildlife.

Native Animals

Asian black bears are a medium species of bears native to Asia.

Binturongs are a unique species that simultaneously look like a raccoon, a bear, and a cat so they are referred to as bearcats.

Pileated gibbons are a species of gibbons native to small areas of southeastern Asia.

Asian elephants are the only elephant species of its genus and are found in most of southern Asia.

Clouded leopards are a species of wild cats found in dense forests around Southeast Asia.

Black-shanked doucs are a species of doucs native to Cambodia and Vietnam. They’re Old World monkeys.

Dholes are a wild species of canids native to Central, South, East, and Southeast Asia.

Marine Animals

Mekong freshwater stingrays are a species of stingrays restricted to the Mekong and Chao Phraya Rivers.

Saltwater crocodiles are the largest species of crocodiles in the world as well as the largest living reptiles.

Irrawaddy dolphins are a species of oceanic dolphin found near sea coasts and in rivers and estuaries. They are exclusive to Southeast Asia.

Asian giant softshell turtles are critically endangered.