Police from central province of Quang Tri yesterday seized reptiles such as turtles, and pangolins, and civets from a car on National Highway 1A in Vinh Linh District.

After stopping a seven-seater car for inspection, the police found some sacks in the car that contained three pangolins, 10 turtles, 6 civets and other animals weighing about 90kg.

Hoang Thi Luyen, the owner of the animals, who lives in Quang Binh Province's Bo Trach District, failed to present paper for their origin.

Luyen told the police that she purchased the animals from A Luoi District in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue to sell them to a restaurant in Quang Binh Province.

Police seized the reptiles and animals and asked authorised forest rangers in Quang Tri Province to take care of them before returning them to the wild.

An investigation is underway.

Stump-tailed macaque released back into the wild

Centre of Biodiversity Conservation, GreenViet, and the central city's Ba Na-Nui Chua forest protection sub-department have jointly released a stump-tailed macaque into the wild in Ba Na-Nui Chua Nature Reserve.

Director of GreenViet Tran Huu Vy said the 5kg stump-tailed macaque, or Macaca arctoides, which was donated by a local person, was in good health and was back in the wild.

He said Ba Na-Nui Chua Nature Reserve was home to several stump-tailed macaques, and the release of the monkey would help increase the diversity of animal life in the reserve.

According to unofficial statistics, there are more than 50 stump-tailed macaques alive. The animal was listed in Viet Nam's Red Book in 2000 as a vulnerable species (VU) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Last week, GreenViet signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with forest range sub-departments in Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son about the protection of biodiversity in the Son Tra Nature Reserve.

The Son Tra Nature Reserve, known for its rich biodiversity, is home to 300 red-shanked doucs, a kind of langur that was declared endangered by the IUCN in 2013.

Last year, forest rangers and police in the city rescued 12 wild animals from a cafe in Cam Le District.

In August, Son Tra-Ngu Hanh Son's Forest Protection Department filed a criminal case over the illegal killing in March of three red-shanked doucs (Pygathryx nemaeus) during a hunting trip in the reserve for money.

Last month, a red-shanked douc was found dead in the reserve with gunshot wounds.

The central city launched a communication campaign last year, entitled ‘Community Say No to Wildlife Consumption,' aimed at reducing wildlife consumption in the city, and making Da Nang free of wildlife consumption in Viet Nam with a message, ‘Wildlife is national treasure, not your lunch.'

Wildlife information kits are available in Mai Linh taxi cabs and at the arrival terminal of Da Nang International Airport.

GreenViet has been co-operating with the Frankfurt Zoological Society of Germany, the San Diego Zoo Global of the United States and IUCN to protect the red-shanked douc langur in the Son Tra Nature Reserve in Da Nang. 

VNS