Environmental police in Ho Chi Minh City have seized nearly 500 rare and precious wild animals from an illegal wildlife trading farm in Cu Chi District. 

>> Vietnam youths increasingly engaged in wildlife protection  >> Vietnam in two minds about destroying wildlife contraband During a raid on a farm in Dong Thanh Commune on Monday, an anti-environmental crime police unit found many live animals belonging to group IIB in the Vietnam Red Book being captured there. The farm’s owner failed to present any documents proving the origin and legality of the wild animals. Police made a report on their findings and confiscated all the animals before transporting them to the Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Center, which is under wildlife protecting organization Wildlife At Risk (WAR), a HCMC-based nonprofit. These animals include such endangered species as monocled cobras, naja siamensis, water monitors, clouded monitors, python reticulates, and others, Le Xuan Lam, manager of the center, said. The center has classified the wildlife in order to give them proper care, Lam said. Those in good health will be taken care of for a short time before being released back to nature, while those in bad conditions will be treated until they are healthy for a safe return to their natural habitats, he added.    This is the first time the center has received such a large number of wildlife animals from a seizure by environmental police, the official said.

From the beginning of this year, the center has received about 1,000 wild animals for care and treatment before returning them to their living environments.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!