Authorities of Vietnam’s central province of Thua Thien-Hue June 29 organized a conference to review a Denmark-funded project on trafficking prevention of wild animals and plants in and through the locality. Under the project was implemented from Feb 2009, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Vietnam Program and TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, have cooperated with agencies and departments to boost law enforcement and improve the public awareness of the issue. Local police forces uncovered 88 wildlife trafficking cases and seized over 900 kilograms of wildlife meats as well as rescued 731 animals alive, which were then released to the forests. Truong Son mountain range, which runs through Thua Thien Hue province, is home to many endangered species in the global preservation list, including tiger (scientifically known as Panthera tigris), Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and newly-discovered hooves Sao la (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis). The area, along the Vietnam-Laos border in Thua Thien-Hue, is known as a hot sport of illegal wildlife transport and trafficking in Vietnam. The animals are hunted in neighboring countries like Laos and Cambodia; and taken to the country’s northern localities and China for consumption. Nearly 200 species of animals are being offered in the Vietnamese market, including 80 endangered species. Between 4,000-4,500 tons of wild animals are transited in Vietnam each year and they are mainly smuggled into China. Illegal wildlife trafficking worldwide generates between $5 billion- $20 billion a year, ranking the second after the illegal drug trade. Vietnamese authorities had uncovered only 10% of the actual number of such cases over the past few years as smugglers are becoming more cunning in their activities. (Vietnamplus.vn June 29, Kinh Te & Do Thi – Urban & Economy June 30 p2)
