A strong warning to those who keep and trade wild animals

Previously, in November 2019, the Department of Environmental Crime Prevention ( Ministry of Public Security ) coordinated with functional agencies in Ho Chi Minh City to discover and seize 57 individuals of various wildlife species, including many endangered, precious and rare species protected at the highest level by Vietnamese law - on the List of endangered, precious and rare species prioritized for protection in Decree 160/2013/ND-CP, Group IB, List of endangered and rare wild animals in Decree 06/2019/ND-CP and Appendix I CITES such as: clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), fire leopard (Catopuma temminckii), binturong (Arctictis binturong), fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), northern civet (Chrotogale owstoni), small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus), grey-footed pelican (Pelecanus philippensis), Yellow-cheeked gibbons (Nomascus (Hylobates) gabriellae), yellow-cheeked peafowl (Pavo muticus), peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) and pileated gibbons (Hylobates pileatus) at the wildlife breeding facility of Truong Van Tuan (Xuan Thoi Dong commune, Hoc Mon district, Ho Chi Minh City).

Hoc Mon District People's Court sentenced Truong Van Tuan to 10 years and 6 months in prison for illegally keeping rare and endangered wildlife species. Source: ENV

According to Truong Van Tuan's testimony, most of these wildlife were handed over to him by some forest rangers in the South after people voluntarily handed them over, and the other part was bought by him on the open market. Tuan also provided a list of forest products certified by relevant forest rangers to prove the origin of these wildlife.

However, after the verification process, the police investigation agency determined that most of the cases of wildlife handover according to Tuan's statements and shown in the forest product lists provided by this subject were not real. The police investigation agency also initiated a case of "Forgery in work" to clarify the responsibility of related forest rangers.

According to the Centerfor Education for Nature (ENV), Truong Van Tuan is known as a major source specializing in illegally buying, selling, and transporting wildlife from neighboring countries to Vietnam, then "legalizing" it at farms for consumption domestically and internationally. In addition to registering and being granted a farm code under his own name, he is also the owner of many farms under the names of other individuals. These facilities are all licensed by the forest rangers to commercially raise a large number of wildlife, including species that scientists have assessed as "not capable of commercial farming" such as the big-headed turtle.

Ms. Bui Thi Ha - Deputy Director, ENV shared: "The sentence of 10 years and 6 months in prison for Truong Van Tuan not only shows the determination to fight against wildlife crimes of the prosecution agencies of Hoc Mon district, but also serves as a strong warning to those who are taking advantage of the name of "legal breeding facilities" to illegally breed, trade, and transport wildlife."

Many wildlife species have been exploited by subjects under the guise of breeding facilities to

Many wildlife species have been exploited by subjects under the guise of breeding facilities to "legalize" illegal trade, violating the law. Illustration photo: Civet. ENV

From this case, it can be seen that, in fact, the use of the cover of a breeding facility to “legalize” illegal wildlife by Tuan is not an isolated phenomenon. Current management regulations are still inadequate, creating many loopholes for subjects to take advantage of to smuggle wildlife from the wild or from other illegal sources and illegally trade at registered commercial breeding facilities.

Therefore, competent State agencies urgently need to issue a list of wildlife species that are allowed to be bred for commercial purposes because this will be an effective solution that both meets the goal of biodiversity conservation and contributes to orienting wildlife farming activities and ensuring sustainable livelihoods for people.

Specifically, issuing a list of wildlife species that are allowed to be farmed for commercial purposes and regularly updating this list will help reduce illegal trade, thereby eliminating the negative impacts of this activity on threatened wildlife species, especially those at risk of extinction.

This list also helps to significantly simplify procedures for both farmers and management agencies. In the long term, this solution also needs to be combined with continued policy improvement and enhanced law enforcement to ensure comprehensive management of commercial wildlife farming activities for the sustainable benefit of people and to ensure a safe future for wildlife species.

Hong Minh

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/loi-canh-tinh-danh-thep-voi-cac-doi-tuong-nuoi-nhot-buon-ban-dong-vat-hoang-da-post546439.html