THE RARE BIRDS
OF NORTHERN CAMBODIA
SEPTEMBER 2021
In the Anthropocene era, the impact of human activity on the biosphere has reached such a level that it has become a dominant geological constraint capable of affecting the lithosphere. In this evolving environment, ecosystems are trying to survive as best they can. This is the case of the 50 billion birds living on earth. In this article, Secret Indochina highlights three bird sanctuaries in Cambodia where some of the most elusive birds still live.

In the far northwest, in the province of Banteay Meanchey two hours by road from Siem Reap, is the Ang Trapeang Thmor Nature Reserve, a unique ecosystem of 12,650ha, where wetlands, grasslands, dry dipterocarp forests, bamboo forests, and water bodies coexist. This area was created in 1999 to protect the precious Sarus Crane (Antigone Antigone), the largest flying bird that can reach up to 1.8 meters in height. The Sarus Crane resides throughout the year in northern Pakistan, India, Nepal, Queensland in Australia, and Southeast Asia. The reserve is also home to over 200 species of birds, including the Spotted Wood Owl (Strix seloputo), the Greater Spotted Eagle (Clanga clanga), the Oriental Plover (Charadrius veredus), the Comb Duck (Sarkidiornis sylvicola), the Black Kite (Milvus migrans), and the Black-necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus). It is also home to the Thamins or the Eld’s Deer (Cervus eldii or Rucervus eldii), the Crab-eating Macaque (Macaca fascicularis), the Amboina Box Turtle (Cuora amboinensis), the Malayan Snail-eating Turtle (Malayemys macrocephala), and the Elongated Tortoise (Indotestudo elongata).

Further south, in the northwest corner of the Tonle Sap, is the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary. Part of the UNESCO-listed Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, the sanctuary has the largest colony of waterfowl in Southeast Asia, with approximately 100,000 breeding pairs. Covered mainly by freshwater swamp forests, this Ramsar site (identified wetlands of international importance) benefits from the rise and fall of the Tonle Sap waters, which feed sediment and nutrients to the flooded forests and stimulate the growth of plants and fish – a veritable larder for the wild birds that frequent the area. Many rare species thrive within this restricted area, such as the Greater Adjutant (Leptopilos dubius), the Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus), the Spot-billed Pelican (Pelecanus philippensis), the Milky Stork (Mycteria cinerea), the Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala), the Black-headed Ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus), the Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster, sometimes called Snakebird), the Grey-headed Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus ichthyaetus), and subgroups of Cormorant (Phalacrocoracidae). These specimens are particularly abundant during the dry season from November to May.

To the northwest, Kulen Promtep Nature Reserve, which overlaps the provinces of Otdar Mean Cheay, Preah Vihear, and Siem Reap, is part of the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary, a million-hectare, largely flat area of vast savanna-like deciduous dipterocarp forests in a complex mosaic of grasslands, seasonal wetlands, semi-evergreen forests, and the country’s largest swamps. It is one of the last refuges in the world for the almost mythical Giant Ibis (Thaumatibis gigantea), a symbol of Cambodia that is pictured on two national stamps. The Giant Ibis is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, and it is estimated that there are only 300 left in the world, mainly in northern Cambodia with some in southern Laos and the national park of Yok Don, Vietnam. Within this natural setting other critically endangered species thrive, such as the White-shouldered Ibis (Pseudibis davisoni), the Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris), the Sarus Crane, and other vulnerable species including the Indian Spotted Eagle (Clanga hastata), the White-rumped Falcon (Polihierax insignis), the Collared Falconet (Microhierax caerulescens), the Rufous-winged Buzzard (Butastur liventer), the Indochinese Bushlark (Mirafra erythrocephala), the Brown Prinia (Prinia polychroa), the Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch (Sitta cinnamoventris), the White-browed Fantail (Rhipidura aureola), and Wroughton’s Free-tailed Bat (Otomops wroughtoni). The reserve is also the last sanctuary for the possibly extinct Kouprey (Bos sauveli), a wild bovid related to the banteng and gaur that was last seen in the wild in 1969-70.

These specimens can be seen during a stay at Tmatboey Community Managed Ecolodge, a sustainable tourism project focused on habitat protection and wildlife study. The project contributes directly to the local economy through payments to villagers for services such as accommodation, guiding, cooking, transportation, and Village Development Funds



© Illustration credit: Johanna Hildebrandt


 
THE KHMU
AN ANCIENT LAOTIAN PEOPLE FROM ABOVE THE CLOUDS
 
 
In this edition, Secret Indochina takes a closer look at the Khmu, the mysterious indigenous inhabitants of Laos. Khmu settlements date back millennia, with a royal capital located in the northern Nam Ou basin.

The Khmu (also spelled Khammu, Kmhmu or Kemu) belong to the Austroasiatic family (Môn-Khmer). In Laos, there are approximately 450,000 Khmu organized in sub-groups. The primary ones are the Ou (south of the provinces of Phongsaly and Houaphan, north of Luang Prabang province); the Rok (or Hok, towards Oudomxay); the Lu (north of Oudomxay); the Me (northeast of Luang Prabang province and in the Nam Et area); the Khong (south of Oudomxay); the Kouene (south of Louang Namtha); and the Nuang (north of Oudomxay).

The Khmu are a patrilineal culture; Laotians sometimes call them the P'u Ling (men from above) or the Kha Khmu (Kha means savages, or men of wood). They are descendants of the Khmu kingdoms, whose territories once extended over all northern Laos, part of northwestern Vietnam, and the northern part of the Annamitic Cordillera. The capital of these kingdoms is located around Muang Noi, and according to local traditions, their golden treasures were buried in the limestone massifs that dominate the Middle Nam Ou. These kingdoms disappeared between the 7th and the 10th centuries amid an influx of Thai migratory waves from China. The Khmu are also linked to the kingdom of the Plain of Jars (Phongsavan).

Khmu society is based on slash-and-burn agriculture with gathering, hunting, and fishing part of daily life. The Khmu cultivate white rice and black or red sticky mountain rice, corn, bananas, sugar cane, cucumbers, beans, sesame, and other vegetables. Most of the agricultural work is shared, with women typically sowing and harvesting the rice. The rice is stored in granaries outside the village to protect it from fire and pests via elevated structures on stilts.

Before the 1950s, the Khmu built their villages along rivers or on isolated ridgelines fortified to guard against external threats such as nocturnal wildcats, herds of elephants, raids by neighboring groups, or tribal warfare. The fortifications are made of bamboo or wood, and they often feature two parallel enclosures with doors embellished by protective gris-gris.

Perched on five-foot stilts, the houses are divided into two or three alcoves. Talismans protect the main entrance, and altars are placed outside the perimeter to ward off fires and storms. Each Khmu household is protected by a totem, such as a boar or eagle. The Khmu believe that a house, village, and their surroundings are integrated with the spirits of the earth and are sacred, ritualized spaces. A Khmu house traditionally faces east, with one door to the east and another facing north or south. It has a long balcony that extends eastward, as part of an ancient tradition of sun spirit worship. One reason for the eastward orientation is the Khmu belief that the eastern star has the power to repel devils, ghosts, and evil spirits, which fear its morning rays; another reason is that it keeps away pests, insects, bacteria, rats, and snakes.

One of the main Khmu rites is the sacrifice of the buffalo in honor of the paddy cycle, before or after cultivation or in case of disasters including war, flooding, and disease. The Khmu live in fear of spirits called the Rroïs (Hroi), which take multiple forms: spirits of the woods (Rroïs-yu), trees (Rroïs-torteri), waters (Rroïs-yong), summits, wind, houses, vampires (Rroïs-su), vengeful spirits or possessors (Rroïs-poop) and crazy spirits (Rroïs-pong). The great elders, often shamans, are covered with tattoos to protect themselves from certain spirits or to attract others; there are accounts of invisible wars between sorcerers with the power to use certain demonic spirits for punitive purposes. Khmu shamans can access spirits through the ritual of the buffalo sacrifice, counting grains of rice, observing the stains of an egg white, analyzing lunar calendars, or counting cut plants. Once contact is established, various paths open up that enable the shaman to heal, predict the future, or punish through different forms of curses and bewitchments of varying strength.

Khmu traditions are transmitted orally through historical accounts and legends in sessions where attendees have traditionally shared silver pipes filled with opium, which has been replaced with tobacco or lao-lao, the local rice alcohol. The Khmu celebrate four main festivals: the planting of rice, the harvesting of rice, the New Year, and the festivals for the elimination of sin. Sacrifices are made before planting and shortly before harvesting in the form of field rituals that honor the souls of the paddy, the rivers, and the surrounding woods. To honor the lady of the paddy, the Khmu drum on gongs (the yan), allowing the sun to shine and chase away the rain; if successful, a ceremony of thanks to the sun is organized with bronze gongs (the heurbang greh).

The Khmu bury their dead in cemeteries with four sections: one for natural deaths, one for accidental deaths, one for children, and one for those who died far from home. Other characteristics of the Khmu include their art of basketry (the hoods are made by men between June and August), their manufacture of alcohol from corn, rice or bananas via still systems (made by women in the dry season), their skill in blacksmithing, the wearing of frontal hoods, and, in some districts, the raising of elephants (especially around Xayabury).

Since the early 1990s, Secret Indochina has conducted reconnaissance missions to the Upper Nam Ou basin, especially the central and northern part of the Phu Sang Mountains – a remote area where various Khmu-ou villages are located. In addition to its unique inhabitants, the Phu Sang (the Elephant Range) stands out for its landscapes and natural environment. The mountains create a natural barrier that has insulated certain Khmu and Tibeto-Burman communities (O'pa and Luma) for the last decades. The main villages are located on the northwestern foothills along the Nam Leng River (Ban Chaho, Ban Phiaoux), and on the eastern flanks (Ban Sakeo, Ban Namloy, Ban Tonlung, Ban Mokgnom) that dominate the Upper Nam Ou and its gorges. Secret Indochina's research has developed several modules in the area and help rediscover the Khmu, an almost forgotten people from above the clouds


© Illustration credit: Marc Taro Holmes

 
Secret Indochina
Secret Indochina is a Destination Management Company of Amica JSC, established in 2011 following the encounter of Tran Quang Hieu and Nicolas Vidal, two professionals passionate about authentic and impactful travel. Secret Indochina strives to lead travellers to outstanding sites, magical places, and little-known ethnic communities in Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia

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