“The number of seizures of tigers in Vietnam has increased and this is highlighting just what a problem it is,” said Thomas Osborn, Vietnam Forest Trade Officer of the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.

Environmental authorities on October 9 seized two frozen tigers, weighing 40 and 90 kilograms (88 and 198 pounds), in a suburban district of Hanoi. There have been at least three similar seizures in the capital city this year.

Despite the increasing number of seizures, Osborn told Thanh Nien Weekly this was not reflecting the real problem in Vietnam.

“It is still felt by many environmental agencies that it is just the tip of the iceberg and there is far more trade going on than the seizures suggest,” he said.

Five people, including the driver of a taxi transporting the animals, have been arrested pending investigations. One of the accused told police they bought the tigers south of Hanoi in Thanh Hoa Province and were bringing them to the capital for sale at VND2 million (US$111) per kilogram.

Osborn said the rapid urbanization and the hunt for tigers’ fur and body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine affects their habitat, numbers, and population sizes. But he pointed out that there are other indirect threats to the wild animal as well.

“Hunting of tiger prey will also threaten tiger’s existence both through lack of cooking and requirements for larger territories.”

Tigers are listed as a protected and endangered species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that Vietnam is a member of.

In danger

Osborn also said that besides tigers, there were very many animals under CITES that need protection in Vietnam like langurs, bears, gibbons, serow, Saola, pangolins, as well as numerous birds.

The latest poaching of endangered species happened last week in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, where local forest wardens found two blackshanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nigripes) dead in the Cu Yang Sin National Park.

The primates, known locally as vooc cha va chan den, had been shot dead by a group of four suspected loggers who had fled the scene after being spotted, said Luong Vinh Linh, the park director.

Osborn said further action was needed to strengthen the protection of endangered species in Vietnam.

“Environmental crime including illegal exploitation of endangered species remains very high and further enforcement efforts, including through improved interagency cooperation, are required to limit the substantial damage being inflicted on Vietnam’s native endangered species.”

VietNamNet/Thanh Nien