VietNamNet Bridge – Wild animals are being hunted in the mountainous areas of the central provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai to sell for use during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The Song Thanh Natural Sanctuary in Quang Nam province, covering an area of 75,000 hectares, is a favorite destination point for illegal hunters.

A local man said that traps had been set in many places in the woods as it is now the peak hunting season.

“Pangolin prices have been increasing rapidly, having reached VND10 million per kilo. They focus on trapping pangolins,” he said.

“After catching animals, they call merchants, who come directly to buy animals and take them away to restaurants in the cities of Da Nang and Tam Ky,” he said, adding that the demand now is very high, because it is the time for people to join year-end parties.

Numerous shops along Highway No 14D buy animals from hunters and sell wild animal meat to retailers and consumers. Though there is no signboard hung over the entrance door, people still know they can buy meat there.

The owner of a shop, when asked if he could provide meat in large quantities, said that he could satisfy all the orders.

Drinking strong alcohol and eating wild animal meat are now in fashion. This explains why numerous restaurants have appeared in Quang Nam province recently. Over 10 restaurants alone could be found on a short one-kilometre section of road.

According to the Quang Nam provincial Forest Rangers’ Unit, 10,000 wildlife traps were discovered in 2014 in mountainous districts. The forest rangers in the same year seized more than 400 kilos of wild animal meat.

The same situation can be seen in Quang Ngai City. All the restaurants there serve meals made of wild animals. In some mountainous areas, wildlife meat is available in the open air.

A worker at the GD Restaurant in Quang Ngai City said that the meat is carried to the city from many localities, either the mountainous areas of Quang Ngai province, or the neighboring provinces of Kon Tum, Gia Lai and Dak Lak.

A report from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, showed that 47 percent of Hanoians in 2009 said they had once used wild animals. The figure rose to 69 percent in 2014.

In the central city of Da Nang, 31 violations of the laws on advertising and selling wildlife  products were discovered in 2013. The figure rose to 80 in 2014.

In 2014, there were 29 violations of laws on displaying and breeding wild animals in captivity, and 15 cases were discovered in 2013.

Thien Nhien