As trading and illegal hunting have seriously diminished the tiger population, Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV) has called on the community to join hands to protect wild tigers.
At a press briefing in Hanoi on Mar. 15, Nguyen Thi Van Anh, coordinator of an ENV programme for wildlife protection, announced the initial results of the survey on tiger caging and trading in Vietnam.
The survey indicated that people’s demand for tiger bones to use as medicine has reduced the number of tigers in Vietnam and other countries.
The survey also showed the relations among tiger farms and the illegal trading of the animal, an overall picture of cross-border tiger trading and other related activities in Vietnam.
According to the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), there are only about 30 wild tigers left in Vietnam. Hunting, a changing of living environment and fewer sources of food are major reasons for the reduction of the wild tiger population.
ENV said that since 2005, relevant agencies pursued 16 cases of illegal trading and transport resulting in the seizure of 29 tigers. However, the ENV added, this number was very small in comparison with the total number of tigers believed to be kept on farms in Vietnam and abroad to be sold to make medicine, which is believed to help strengthen human bone, improve health and treat other diseases.
Nguyen Thi Van Anh stressed that tiger trading is not only a problem for the nation, but also an international issue, so that Vietnamese agencies should coordinate with relevant agencies in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand and other countries in investigating and prosecuting the leaders of illegal tiger trading.
ENV is the first local non-governmental organisation in Vietnam involved in natural and environmental preservation with the aim of improving people’s awareness on the environment relating to wildlife protection, natural bio systems and climate change.