An endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas) was released to the sea in Đà Nẵng. — Photo courtesy Đà Nẵng Agriculture and Rural development department Viet Nam News ĐÀ NẴNG — An endangered green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) has been released to the sea after being captured and kept at a house in the central city, a source from the city’s sub-department of Aquatic Resource Protection said yesterday. The source said the turtle, which had been kept in an aquarium belonging to a family in Sơn Trà peninsula, was healthy when it swam back to the ocean. The sub-department said the green turtle was listed as an endangered species by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Red Book of Việt Nam also named the turtle as a threatened species in need of special protection. In July, the sub-department … [Read more...] about Endangered sea turtle released in Đà Nẵng
Endangered species
Endangered gaurs losing habitat in national park
Viet Nam News KON TUM — The number of gaurs living in Ja Book Valley has been declining over the last 20 years as the grasslands where they used to roam have slowly been replaced by forests. The grasslands used to cover 15,000ha in Chư Mom Ray National Park in the Central Highland province of Kon Tum, but they have shrunk to just 5ha. Đào Xuân Thủy, vice director of the national park, said that Ja Book Valley used to be home to many animals including tigers, elephants, gaurs, leopards, deer, cobras, reptiles and amphibians. “The valley used to be known as the land of the gaur - the largest extant bovine and an endangered species in Việt Nam - as herds of them used to roam the valley,” Thủy said. Thủy added that following grazers, carnivores also flocked to the valley to hunt. “The valley was most crowded in May because of the abundant grass,” he said, explaining that April rains revitalised the meadow that … [Read more...] about Endangered gaurs losing habitat in national park
Vietnamese man jailed for keeping 7,000 stuffed endangered sea turtles
By An Phuoc  June 5, 2018 | 10:00 am GMT+7 Hoang Tuan Hai stands in court in Nha Trang on Monday. Photo by VnExpress/An Phuoc Prosecutors call it the largest illegal taxidermy operation ever discovered worldwide. A Vietnamese man who traded cigarettes and beers for endangered sea turtles has been jailed for four years and six months for violating wildlife regulations. The sentence on 46-year-old Hoang Tuan Hai was handed down by the Nha Trang People’s Court in the central resort town on Monday. In 2014, police found a massive collection of 7,000 stuffed turtles and 800 giant clam shells, along with many machines and tools that Hai used to fashion sculptures and other craftworks with the bodies of several endangered species. Prosecutors told the court that it was the largest possession of killed sea turtles found in the world, so far. The court said Hai’s actions had seriously damaged marine life in Vietnam and needs to be punished. There are … [Read more...] about Vietnamese man jailed for keeping 7,000 stuffed endangered sea turtles
Endangered large-antlered muntjac found in Quang Nam
A camera trap has caught the large-antlered muntjac, one of the rarest and most threatened mammal species of Southeast Asia, in the central province of Quang Nam. (Photo: WWF–Vietnam, USAID, Leibniz-IZW) Hanoi (VNA) – A camera trap has caught the large-antlered muntjac, one of the rarest and most threatened mammal species of Southeast Asia, for the first time in the central province of Quang Nam. The mammal is classified as a rare and endangered animal in the red book. The provincial Forest Protection Department said on May 23 that the photographs captured two individuals, a male and a female, which are both mature and of reproductive age. They were taken in November last year as part of a biodiversity monitoring and assessment supported by the World Wild Fund Vietnam (WWF–Vietnam), US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and local authorities. “Large-antlered muntjacs do not … [Read more...] about Endangered large-antlered muntjac found in Quang Nam
Endangered cobras found in suitcases
Hà Nam police on Wednesday discovered some 130kg of cobras inside three wheeled suitcases, a backpack and a paper box wrapped in black nylon. - Photo courtesy of Hà Nam PoliceViet Nam News HÀ NỘI — Police in the northern province of Hà Nam on Wednesday made an extraordinary discovery: three cabin suitcases filled with venomous cobras. According to police sources, Trịnh Văn Nghị, 31, and his 30-year-old wife, Trần Thị Tuyền, from Hà Nam’s Thanh Liêm District were stopped by the police as they were passing Phủ Lý City. On examining their luggage, the police discovered some 130kg of cobras inside three wheeled suitcases, a backpack and a paper box wrapped in black nylon. The couple failed to present papers proving the legal origins of the animals, which were listed as an endangered species on Việt Nam’s Red List. Nghị told the police that a restaurant owner in HCM City had … [Read more...] about Endangered cobras found in suitcases