Cambodia is rich in wildlife, and there is a lot of places that you can visit in order to catch a glimpse of a wide array of animals in their natural habitat without disrupting them or engaging in any form of unethical animal tourism. The list includes a number of natural areas, as well as wildlife rescue and conservation centers as listed down below:
- Mondulkiri is a spot that is very famous and is where you can go to check out their elephant sanctuary. The Elephant Valley Project is one of ethical wildlife tourist attractions, and another place to visit is Hephalum café, which is another center that promotes responsible animal tourism by collaborating with organizations like WCS and WWF. The EVP areas comprise of a decent area of a rain forest and you are able to watch the elephants as they roam around. You can also volunteer to help the sanctuary run by performing small tasks with them. The EVP is open during the weekdays but closed during the weekends. The EVP is currently developing an ongoing tour project that lets you see 3 different endangered monkey species as well but it is currently really expensive and costs over $100.
- The Cardamom Mountains are not as relatively well known, but it is beginning to pick up some traction. It is located in South-West Cambodia and is relatively remote. You can find two community centers there, namely the Cardamom Community Center and Chi Phat, and out of the two centers, Chi Phat is believed to be tour centric. So, if you want to book a wildlife tour in the Cardamom Mountains, Chi Phat is the area to go.
- Kratie is a great place for you to be able to get a sight of Irrawaddy dolphins, which happen to be an endangered freshwater dolphin species. From Kratie, you move to Kampi, which happens to be the only place to start proper dolphin tours, and you will be able to spot a few dolphins along the riverside from there.
- Virachey National Park is situated in the North side of the country and is a lot like the Cardamom Mountains since they offer trekking and jungle hikes where you can be fortunate enough to spot a few animals along the way. Of course, you want to make sure that you check the weather conditions before you plan your trip here.
- The Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center is a great place to go in order to better educate yourself regarding wildlife and its conservation. You will mostly find their area of focus to be towards bears, and you will find a number of rescue bears in different enclosures there and will tell you the story of each bear as well.
- Betreed Adventures happens to be a place situated near Siem Reap and is known for offering a very real jungle experience. So, if you are looking to really get into nature, you can check out what they have to offer as well.