The Ho Chi Minh City Forest Protection Department confirmed on Friday that it had released 27 wild animals, including a Burmese python weighing approximately 50 kilograms, back into the wild in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam.

These animals, mostly voluntarily handed over by local residents to the department, belong to 10 different species such as Burmese python, leopard cat, pig-tailed macaque, clouded monitor, water monitor, yellow-headed temple turtle, snail-eating turtle, elongated tortoise, Asian box turtle, and giant Asian pond turtle.

After receiving care at a wildlife rescue station in the city’s Cu Chi District for a while, they were relocated to Dong Nai for release into the Dong Nai Nature and Cultural Reserve.

Among them, the 50kg Burmese python, known scientifically as Python bivittatus, is classified as a rare and endangered animal.

The python had been voluntarily handed over to the department by a local resident in June this year.

A screenshot from a video shows a forest ranger releasing turtles into their natural habitat at the Dong Nai Nature and Cultural Reserve in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam

A clouded monitor, whose scientific name is Varanus nebulosus and weight is about seven kilograms, is also on the list of rare and endangered species.

Truong Van Thuong, hailing from Binh Chanh District, and his family members spotted the clouded monitor in their home.

After learning that it is a rare species, Thuong gave it to the city’s forest rangers in June for further care, rehabilitation, and release back into nature.

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