Help 30 Women Fight Wildlife Crime in Vietnam

In the first quarter of the year, our crime fighting women have continued to make headway towards the goal to end Vietnam’s illegal wildlife trade. Recent progress includes several updates on bear bile farming, prosecution trainings and media conferences, and the continued operation of our Wildlife Crime Hotline, which has resulted in the seizure of various native and exotic species.

We have seen the rescue of more than 291 animals from the illegal wildlife trade thanks to reports to our Wildlife Crime Hotline. The species included macaques, leopard cats, bears, otters, pangolins, and various turtle, lizard and bird species, among other wildlife. Stats are pending for April and May, and June isn’t over yet, but we have many updates from the field that have shown the great progress made by our crime fighting team these past few months.

First, we’ll place the spotlight on bear bile farming and the recent updates contributing towards its eradication which took place in June:

• 350 bear bile vials were seized from a bear owner keeping 7 bears in Phuc Tho district, Hanoi. This is a significant case following efforts by ENV and police, targeting the area where 93% of Hanoi’s captive bears are kept. This seizure shows the bear owners cannot keep getting away with illicit bile extraction from the many bears they keep.
• 3 bear cubs were seized in Dien Bien in June following investigations by provincial Environmental Police, they successfully arrested a trafficker in connection to these crimes. The cubs were likely caught on Vietnam’s border with Laos and they have been safely rehomed to the Bear Rescue Center in Tam Dao to grow up free from small cage walls.
• An illegal, non-microchipped bear was discovered again on a monitoring mission by World Animal Protection in April 2022, this resulted in the transfer of the illegal bear to the Tam Dao Rescue Center in June. The bear had been first discovered a year prior, but was reported to have died. We worked closely with authorities to ensure a confiscation was made this time round.
• We received a report from a member of the public about an Asiatic black bear being kept in Son La province, which was recently announced to be bear bile farm-free as of December 2021. This was a surprise, as it turned out a bear owner still had their bear, which had expired papers from 2007. ENV spoke with the authorities and the owner, who luckily agreed to do the right thing and voluntarily transfer their bear to Tam Dao Rescue Center!
• Binh Phuoc became the latest bear bile farm-free province on Friday, with the last bear being handed over to Free the Bears in Cat Tien National Park! We congratulate them for their efforts securing this transfer and contributing to our shared mission of ending this industry.

The 350 vials of bear bile seized have set an important precedent for the handling of bear crimes in Vietnam, being the biggest seizure and the first one ever from a Phuc Tho bear owner. This is especially relevant since Phuc Tho is the biggest bear bile farming hotspot in all of Vietnam. The confiscation of an unchipped bear in Phuc Tho also showed that the law must be adhered to despite the grip the industry has on this district. We hope this sets the tone the way future cases are handled, and we will be following this bear bile case closely through to prosecution.

Speaking of which, our legal team continues to assist on various wildlife crime cases, as well as working to influence application of or amendments to wildlife protection law and policy. This has included:

• A proposal for producing a ‘clean list’ for regulating commercial farming, as opposed to a list of prohibited species. The idea is it would be easier for authorities to check and monitor for what is there, rather than what is not there. It stands to be seen whether this ‘clean list’ will be adopted by regulatory authorities. 
• Sending correspondence to farmers, to ensure they are aware of current farming regulations and are following the law in terms of farming wildlife. We also offer them a point of contact with our legal team if they are ever unsure of the laws.
• Prosecution training with procuracies in Hanoi on February 24^th, Nghe An on April 22^nd, and Quang Ninh on April 29^th, with over 175 attendees in total. The training involved a review of key wildlife protection laws and an open discussion with prosecutors on the difficulties they face in applying the law in real-life cases. Our presentation and feedback drew upon the many wildlife crime cases our legal team monitor and handle on a daily basis, offering a blueprint on the most effective application of existing laws for particular cases.
• Bui Thi Ha, Vice Director and Head of Policy and Legislation, represented ENV at the media briefing on the bear bile farming in Hanoi, alongside Bear Coalition partners: Four Paws and World Animal Protection.

Beyond communicating with prosecutors, the media, farm owners, and relevant authorities, our messaging to the public has continued to be just as important in ending the illegal wildlife trade by tackling its driving force – consumer demand. We have been targeting this through continued awareness campaigns on social media, TV, radio, interviews, volunteer events and other mediums as they arise. Our communications team have been especially busy working on the production of three Public Service Announcements (PSAs) which will be aired on around 60 national TV channels in Vietnam.

The PSA which has already been released this month shows a step-by-step animation of the public reporting wildlife crimes to ENV, resulting in live animal rescues. Another highlights the legal repercussions of selling and eating illegal wildlife meat at restaurants, while the other highlights health risks of eating at a restaurant that serves wildlife, since even if not directly consuming wildlife, there are risks of cross-contamination.

The goal of these informative, and in some cases amusing, PSAs is for consumers to make informed decisions on what they purchase and consume by being aware of the harms it places on themselves, the environment and their loved ones. In March, we re-released our “Tiger King” PSA which addressed tiger bone glue crimes by subverting the idea that it is an honorable gift to bestow upon someone of status.

Thanks to reports to our hotline from a mobilized public, the decisive actions from law enforcement in responding to reports and arresting wildlife criminals, and strong actions by prosecutors, some other notable cases have included:

• Two small-clawed otters voluntarily transferred in wake of police investigation, which likely alerted the owner that possession of protected wildlife would result in legal action.
• 200 red-whiskered bulbuls confiscated from a village where residents frequently sold and bought birds. The local authorities agreed to put together a plan to educate the community to no longer participate in this practice and help protect wildlife instead.
• 1 year, 6 months handed to bear trafficker caught transporting an Asiatic black bear on the back of his motorbike in Lai Chau
• 30 months in prison for subject keeping 3 tiger cubs in a basement in Nghe An
• Two subjects receive 6 years in prison each for poaching 5 douc langurs
• 217 million VND fine handed out to jewelry shop owner who was selling 27 ivory bracelets in February 2022

ENV wants to extend our thanks to you for supporting our wonderful team of crime fighters in the many programs and approaches we have implemented to combat, quell and eventually end the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam!