Alarming the situation of setting up traps to destroy the birds of the sky

The fact that birds became dishes on menus at restaurants and pubs led to the formation of armies specializing in hunting birds to supply. The setting of traps, especially fuzzy nets, sharp nets, etc. of objects puts many species of birds at risk of being exterminated. Worth mentioning, the swiftlets of swiftlet-raising households were also "spoiled", causing economic losses to the households.

With the "matrix" of the netting to catch the birds of the sky, it is very difficult for the birds to escape the trap

Any bird will catch

In the communes of Phu An and An Tay (Ben Cat Town), the fields and orchards running along the Saigon River are ideal conditions for many species of birds to live, nest, breed, find food, and so on. such as: storks, cuckoos, hoe, sparrows... The ancients had a saying that "birds roost in good land", but the presence of objects specializing in trapping birds has caused many species of birds to be exterminated. Many species of birds commonly found in people's daily life and production are now almost absent.

According to people's reflection, recently, a situation of bird traps has emerged with the main purpose of supplying restaurants and eateries. According to the people here, the subjects often go in groups, spread nets in fields, areas where birds often come to find food. With dozens, hundreds of meters of translucent and sharp nets spread like a "matrix" in the fields, it is difficult for any bird to escape. When nets are spread, target groups often use loudspeakers to make calls, or use decoys to lure birds in.

Nguyen Van Thuy, a bird-raising household in An Thuan hamlet, Phu An commune, worriedly said that in 2019 his family invested 5 billion VND to build a house to raise swiftlets. On average, after about 3 years, the swiftlet houses will harvest, so he has only paid back about 3 billion VND so far. However, recently, there have been many groups of objects that have secretly set traps to catch wild birds, many birds from his bird's nest have become "victims". “Swallows often fly to find food at low altitudes, so it is easy to get caught in the traps of objects. The reduction in the number of birds will cause many difficulties for the bird's nest farmers to thin the flock, slow down the development of the flock, leading to losses for the farmers, "said Mr. Thuy.

With the same anxiety and frustration at the behavior of the subjects who set traps to catch wild birds, Nguyen Van Luan from Lo O hamlet, An Tay commune said that the number of swiftlets in his family did not increase, but decrease compared to before. This caused a significant reduction in his family's income. Households who borrow money for investment face even more difficulties when the number of birds is not stable.

“The characteristic of swiftlets is that they will settle down in that place and find food sources nearby. When the mother and father's swiftlets go to find food for their children, unfortunately, they are caught in a trap, which means that the chicks in the nest will also die. In my swiftlet house, there are many baby swiftlets dying on the nest. Once the swiftlet flock does not grow, doubling the number every year means that the investment and income of the farming household will decrease”, Mr. Luan explained.

Will strictly handle those who spread nets and catch birds to annihilate

Frustrated with the behavior of bird hunting, many swiftlet-raising households directly met the subjects to ask not to set traps to catch them. Some groups collected nets left, but some groups also showed no cooperation because they thought that "birds of the sky and fishes of water" wanted to catch them. Many cases still challenge, repeat the behavior and have been reported by the people to the authorities to handle, confiscate tools and nets to trap birds.

Talking to PV, Lieutenant Colonel Huong Cong Nhut, head of the Phu An Commune Police, said that recently in the area, there has been a situation where groups of people from other localities have come to use nets. to set traps to catch the birds of the sky to annihilate. “The setting up traps to catch birds, including catching swiftlets of households, has caused a lot of frustration for people. The commune police have also strengthened mobilization and propaganda for local people not to set traps to catch wild birds, affecting and causing damage to swiftlet-raising households. When we discovered and received information from the people, we were present to handle and seize the nets and tools for making bird traps, and at the same time forced the subjects to sign a commitment not to repeat the offense," said Lieutenant Colonel Nhut.

Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha, Chairwoman of Phu An Commune People's Committee, said that in order to prevent the situation of trapping and catching birds, contributing to the protection of the landscape and environment, the locality has increased propaganda to the people. For violations in the area, local leaders direct the Commune Police force to resolutely handle. All violations are committed to ensure that they do not repeat violations in the future.

According to Senior Colonel Dang Dinh Ha, Head of the Environmental Police Department of the Provincial Public Security, over the past time, the department has organized the implementation and dissemination of legal education, conducted inspection and handled those who committed illegal acts. legislation on the conservation of wildlife and migratory birds. The provincial police have actively coordinated with the provincial Forest Protection Department, departments, agencies and local authorities to launch propaganda to the establishments of captive breeding and trading of ornamental birds, the restaurants, and the restaurants to commit to no trading, displaying, advertising, organizing the slaughter of migratory birds and wild animals; At the same time, it is an activity to check and handle violations.

“We believe that, with the implementation plan of the authorities and localities in the coming time, it will help raise people's awareness in complying with relevant regulations, thereby contributing to preventing this situation. traps to exterminate wild birds as well as other protected wildlife. Doing this well will contribute to the protection of biodiversity, including wild and migratory birds, as well as other important bird areas,” said Colonel Ha.

MINH DUY – XUAN THI