By Quyen Vu | Project Leader
With your support, in 2024, our team continued to focus on tackling some of the most urgent threats, from ending bear bile farming and combating pangolin trafficking to reducing consumer demand for rhino horn and elephant ivory. We worked closely with policymakers, law enforcement authorities, prosecutors, judges, and the public to strengthen wildlife protection laws, support enforcement efforts, and raise awareness about the responsibility to protect wildlife.
The ENV Wildlife Crime Unit handled over 3,000 new wildlife crime cases and logged more than 9,000 individual violations. Our support resulted in 1,577 live wild animals confiscated or voluntarily transferred, including 11 pangolins, over 600 turtles and tortoises, along with more than 90 macaques, 11 lorises, and 14 otters.
A number of successes since our last report include three green sea turtles and one olive ridley sea turtle confiscated from a resort in Binh Thuan (Case ref. 32508/ENV), the shocking discovery of over 2,000 dead birds at a woman’s house (Case ref. 31797/ENV), and the imposition of an administrative fine of VND 85,000,000 for an online wildlife seller (Case ref. 24805/ENV).
To tackle the growing problem of wildlife being illegally advertised and sold on social media platforms, in February we launched the ENV Cyber Crime Day. On the third Wednesday of each month, ENV mobilizes volunteers and members of the public to tackle wildlife crime on social media platforms, particularly on Facebook. To highlight the scale of the problem and encourage action, we produced and released a short film titled “Wake up, Facebook”, highlighting Facebook’s role in wildlife trafficking.
In addition, in January, we conducted a cybercrime training session for 27 Forest Protection Department officials in Long An province, followed by another session in February for 23 officials in Quang Nam province. These trainings equipped participants with the knowledge and tools needed to identify and address wildlife violations online.
Among prosecution cases that occurred in 2025 that saw ENV collaboration with the judicial system, an online seller in Hanoi was sentenced to five years in prison after being apprehended while trying to post a 2.3kg elephant tusk. Following the arrest, a police search of their residence revealed an additional 21.8 kg of tusks (Case ref. 19274/ENV).
Until next time,
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