Cambodia has a weird and wonderful selection of animals, but most of them are extremely hard to see for the casual visitor. The easiest way to see a healthy selection of Cambodia's animal life is to visit the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Sanctuary near Phnom Penh, which provides a home for rescued animals and includes all the major species. For birders, the best bet is to visit Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary on the Tonte Sap lake, home to an incredible concentration of some of the world's rarest large water birds.

Cambodia's larger wild animals include bears, elephants, leopards, tigers and wild cow. Some of the biggest characters in Cambodia are the smaller animals, including the binturong (nicknamed the bear cat), the world's largest population of pileated gibbons in the Cardamoms of the southwest, and the lazy lorises, who hang out in trees all day. The lion, although a familiar sight (in statue form) around Angkor, has never been seen here. Among the country's more common birds are cormorants, cranes, egrets and pelicans. There is also a great variety of butterflies across the kingdom. Four types of snake are especially dangerous and worth avoiding if you have a choice: the cobra, the king cobra, the banded krait and the Russell's viper.