All activities / Wildlife Safaris / Prek Toal
Wildlife Safaris in Prek Toal
A flooded-forest bird sanctuary in the northwest corner of the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, reached by boat from near Siem Reap, one of Southeast Asia's most important breeding grounds for large waterbirds including spot-billed pelicans, milky storks and the greater and lesser adjutant.
Why here
Prek Toal is the single best place in Southeast Asia to see large waterbirds breed in numbers. In the flooded forest at the northwest edge of the Tonle Sap, thousands of pairs of globally threatened birds nest in the treetops: spot-billed pelican, milky stork, painted stork, black-headed ibis, and the huge greater and lesser adjutant. You reach the colonies by boat through the inundated forest and watch from observation towers as the birds wheel in and out of their nests, a spectacle one writer likened to a Hitchcock film. The sanctuary was once stripped for eggs and chicks; local guides who used to collect them now protect the nests, so a trip here directly funds the conservation that keeps the colonies alive. It is birding with real stakes.
Best months
The season runs roughly December to early April, when falling water concentrates the birds and boats can still reach the colonies. The peak is December to February. By late in the dry season water levels drop too far for access, and in the wet season the birds disperse. Dawn is the productive time, so most trips leave very early. Bring binoculars, sun cover and water, and expect several hours in an open boat.
Getting there & around
Trips start from Siem Reap with a road transfer to the Tonle Sap shore at Chong Kneas, then a boat out to the environment office at Prek Toal and on to the colonies by smaller boat. It is a long day, and serious birders can stay overnight at the reserve's field station for the dawn. Entry permits, guides and scopes are arranged by the tour operators. The floating village of Prek Toal can be added on the way.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (2)
Osmose
OutfitterOsmose is a Cambodian non-profit working at Prek Toal that pairs birdwatching trips with community income for families who once collected eggs and chicks around the sanctuary. Its day tours run by boat from the Tonle Sap shore into the flooded forest to the breeding colonies of pelicans, storks and adjutants, guided by local people who also patrol the nests against poaching. Alongside ecotourism it runs environmental education and a women's craft initiative, Saray Tonle.
Sam Veasna Conservation Tours
OutfitterSam Veasna Conservation Tours was founded in Siem Reap in 2003 in memory of the Cambodian conservationist Sam Veasna, and channels its tour revenue into protecting the sites it visits. Its guides run boat trips to the Prek Toal colonies with spotting scopes set up at the reserve's observation towers, targeting spot-billed pelican, milky stork and the greater and lesser adjutant. The company works wildlife sites across Cambodia, on trips from half a day to over a week.