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Rare wildlife species found in Cambodian national park

A years-long survey of a Cambodian national park has revealed endangered species never before recorded in the country, highlighting the need for greater conservation efforts, environmentalists said Wednesday.

The complex survey work uncovered fauna ranging from pangolins to critically endangered large-antlered muntjacs inside Virachey National Park, a relatively untouched haven for biodiversity.

The more than 405,000-hectare park stretches across Cambodia's northeastern region, bordering Laos and Vietnam.

More than 150 cameras were deployed during the survey, which also enlisted the help of local communities to document animals and plants in the protected area.

A total of 89 species were detected, including 20 globally threatened species like the red-shanked douc langur, Sunda pangolin, clouded leopard, dhole and sun bear, according to the survey lead conservation organization Fauna & Flora.

It also found nine species that have never been recorded in Cambodia before, including the critically endangered large-antlered muntjac, Sokolov's glass lizard and the Vietnamese leaf-toed gecko.

The findings "reaffirm the park's importance as a biodiversity stronghold and provide compelling evidence to galvanize increased conservation efforts," Pablo Sinovas, country director of Fauna & Flora's Cambodia program, told AFP.

The park, which forms part of one of the largest forest landscapes in mainland Southeast Asia, is "a biodiversity hotspot, a vital carbon sink, and home to a rich diversity of indigenous communities", he added.

However he warned that the region "faces mounting pressures" from destruction of natural habitats, often for agriculture, infrastructure, or other land uses.

Snaring is another critical issue that has in places led to the "empty forest syndrome" where wildlife, particularly medium- and large-sized mammals, are driven to local extinction, Sinovas added.

Elsewhere in the country, environmentalists have warned that the more than 500 species in the biodiverse Central Cardamoms region face a number of threats, ranging from illegal logging and poaching to sand dredging.

The government has been criticized for allowing companies to clear hundreds of thousands of hectares of forested land in Cambodia—including in protected zones—for projects ranging from rubber and sugar cane plantations to hydropower dams.