Police in northern Quảng Ninh Province on Thursday started legal proceedings against a man arrested for trafficking endangered species. Hoàng Đình Quân is arrested for illegally transporting endangered animals. Local police on Wednesday checked a car in Bãi Cháy Ward, Hạ Long City, and found a man illegally transporting five frozen tigers.Hoàng Đình Quân, from central Nghệ An Province, was also found in possession of three pig-tailed macaques (known as Macaca leonine), 30kg of pangolin scales and 20 eyeteeth of predators.The tigers, identified by local authorities as Panthera tigris, are listed as rare and endangered species that are prioritised for protection, while macaques are listed as animals banned from exploitation for trade purposes.Pangolins are also a threatened species faced with extinction. They have suffered rapid decline over the years due to high demand for their meat and scales that are used in traditional medicines. The case is being investigated further.Under current laws, violators of wildlife protection regulations are fined up to VNĐ500 million (US$22,200) or sentenced up to seven years of imprisonment, depending on the severity of their violation.
After poachers shot the last rare Java rhinoceros, scientists have warned of the extinction of other rare animal species if Vietnam does not adopt preventive measures and strict policies to protect them. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) held a press conference in Hanoi on Tuesday to announce that the last Java rhinoceros had been shot dead for its horn by poachers in the Cat Tien National Park last year. The rare Java rhinoceros was the last of its kind in Vietnam. Tran Minh Hien, director of WWF Vietnam said that it was painful to know that despite all preservation efforts…... [read more]
The southernmost province of Ca Mau has become a hub for trafficking rare and endangered animals, according to Nguyen Van Dau, deputy director of U Minh Ha National Park. Dau said numerous animal species in the area were close to extinction. "The province has become a target for hunters and traders of wild animals despite strict enforcement of a ban on hunting," he said. The animals chiefly trafficked are wild boars, weasels, snakes, turtles, exotic birds and iguanas. Dau said restaurant owners were willing to pay large sums of money for wild animals. Local restaurateur Mai Van Dung said it…... [read more]
More than 150 restaurants in Hanoi have pledged not to serve endanger animal meat, according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in Vietnam. The initiative is the result of the fund's "A Matter of Attitude - Reducing Consumption of Wild Animal Products" campaign, which is funded by the Danish International Development Agency. The fund said these restaurants would no longer serve meat from animals protected by Vietnamese law. They will also inform customers about wildlife preservation activities in the country. The list of restaurants that have refused to serve wild animal meat will be published on the fund's website.…... [read more]
Former PVN chairman Dinh La Thang faces prosecutionThe Saigon Times Daily HCMC – Investigators of the Ministry of Public Security have asked the Supreme People’s Procuracy to approve the prosecution of former chairman of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) Dinh La Thang and six other accomplices for their alleged violations that led to an VND800-billion loss for State oil giant PVN. Dinh La Thang, who served as PVN chairman between 2006 and 2011, was arrested on December 8 on charges of deliberately violating State regulations on economic management causing serious consequences. In 2006, PVN planned to set up…... [read more]
The Nghe An Province's environmental crimes division said this morning that it has detained a man for allegedly trafficking monkeys following a tip-off. The confiscated dead and alive monkeys. — Photo nongnghiep.vn The detainee, Tang Van Duc, 45, is a native of the Dien Lam commune in the Dien Chau District of the province, and was caught trafficking monkeys, most of whom were already dead. Nongnghiep.vn reported that the police had earlier received a tip-off from a member of the public and intercepted Duc while he was on his way to deliver the animals at a site in Dien Chau…... [read more]
