Help 30 Women Fight Wildlife Crime in Vietnam

This marks around two years since we first launched the project in support of our 30 female crime fighters. In this time, we have focused our efforts on deterring, discovering and tackling wildlife crimes, encouraging stricter policies and application of the laws and mobilizing the public to take action to help protect wildlife. ENV couldn’t achieve the progress we have without the dedication and teamwork of our staff. Individually, we are women with our own unique talents. Collectively, we are a force to be reckoned with.

Wildlife Crime Unit

Last year, our all-women Wildlife Crime Unit handled a total of 3,405 wildlife crime cases. These resulted in more live animal confiscations and transfers than any other year, with 3,223 wild animals rescued from the illegal wildlife trade! These included 12 tigers, 23 bears, 130 macaques, 552 turtles and tortoises, 2,267 birds and numerous other species.

These were largely thanks to public reports to the Wildlife Crime Hotline, accounting for 2,000 of all cases. Some of the most noteworthy cases since our last report included:

• Ferret badgers, macaque and civet confiscated from restaurant in Binh Duong province following a report from a member of the public. The restaurant was fined VND 10.5 mil, and all the wildlife was transferred to a rescue center.
• Leopard cat confiscated in Hanoi after somebody posted about a ‘lost cat’ on Facebook. After ENV informed them that it was a wild leopard cat, he agreed to transfer it to the authorities.
• Gibbon confiscated from café in December following report from the public
• Serval cat confiscated by Noi Bai Airport Customs, ENV assisted in arranging its relocation to Hanoi Wildlife Rescue Center.
• 105 turtles confiscated from street seller in Da Nang following a report by one of ENV’s volunteers
• Three ivory cases handled by ENV resulted in the seizure of around 11.8 kg of ivory products by authorities.
• Baby otter confiscated following public report to ENV of a user advertising and selling otters on Facebook in Ho Chi Minh City
• A Sunda pangolin was confiscated thanks to reports from a member of the public regarding advertisements on Facebook 

Policy and Legislation Team

Our Policy & Legislation team continued to correspond with prosecutors and other officials on key wildlife crime cases. We also disseminated information and corresponded regarding changes and proposals to wildlife protection law and policy in Vietnam.

ENV distributed the Wildlife Crime Bulletin, Issue 2 for 2022, sent to nearly 500 National Assembly Delegates. The issue highlighted the results of ENV’s prosecution review and law enforcement responsiveness report for 2021. We also shared crime statistics and crime logs from April to September 2022, giving an overview on the wildlife crime landscape for the period and what we are up against.

We also released a document entitled, ‘Guidance on handling wildlife crime on the internet’ to give guidance to law enforcement in tackling the ever-growing online trade of wildlife. This document is a resource in response to the ongoing threat of the online trade, providing step-by-step measures to take, as well as relevant laws that can be applied, to best deal with crimes in cyberspace. There have been several recent cases where subjects were fined VND 1.25 million, solely for advertising wildlife online illegally. Of course, more serious punishments could be applied in cases where actual physical evidence was seized. However, it’s a promising step that advertising alone can lead to repercussions.

Key trafficking news & prosecutions:

• 13 years in prison for a subject connected to the illegal import of almost 10 tonnes of wildlife products
• 7.5 years and 6 years, 8 months for two pangolin traffickers, also caught trafficking fireworks from Laos to Vietnam.
• In November 2022, 5 years and 6 months in prison were handed to an online supplier caught with three gaur head trophies, two serow head trophies, an Asiatic black bear head trophy, a large-antlered muntjac head trophy, a red-cheeked gibbon head trophy, and other wildlife trophies and skulls.
• In December 2022, a subject received 6 years in prison for carrying 1.6 kg of rhino horn in their check-in luggage from Angola to Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.
• 5 subjects received jail time in relation to the trafficking and slaughter of a tiger in Thanh Hoa province. In December 2022, Thuang Xuan District Court sentenced the couple who brought the tiger to their house for 15 months in prison and a 14-month suspended sentence. The middleman was sentenced to 14 months, however, due to his criminal record he received 50 months. Finally, the transporter received 12 months, while the seller got 14 months in prison.
• First conviction ever for a bear farmer caught extracting and selling bile.
• In December 2022, Lien Chieu District Court sentenced a seller caught with a live Sunda pangolin, two Chinese water dragons, a keeled box turtle, an Assamese macaque, and other frozen wildlife, to 2 years in prison, while the wildlife keeper received a 15-month suspended sentence.
• Over 600 kg of ivory seized from Hai Phong port in January, with almost 500 kg found in one search and around 130 kg found in another four days later.

Communications Department

ENV’s communications team have been focused upon raising public awareness and creating crime deterrence around both serious and common wildlife crimes in Vietnam, as well as disseminating information to relevant stakeholders and authorities concerning the illegal wildlife trade.

Our team travelled to Buon Ma Thuot city in Dak Lak to spread the word on the need to safeguard elephants on the African continent from the illegal ivory trade. This included site visits to tourism establishments, where they signed a commitment to be an ‘Elephant-friendly Business’. ENV also held a ‘Tourism Workshop’ to launch this initiative prior to site visits the following day. Dak Lak is the elephant ivory hotspot of Vietnam, making province the focus of demand reduction efforts. In March 2023, some of our volunteers attended the Coffee Festival in Buon Ma Thuot, where they hosted a booth to raise awareness on the issue. Here, they collected 1,064 pledges from the public not to use or buy ivory products and to protect wildlife.

The ENV Wildlife Protection Volunteer Network hosted various other awareness events, recruited new volunteers and carried out monitoring missions on sites generally prone to or previously recorded to have wildlife violations. The events included exhibitions on the illegal wildlife trade generally, as well as the problem of traditional medicines containing wildlife. These were held at universities, markets and parks in five cities, including Hanoi, Hue, Ho Chi Minh, Can Tho, Ha Tinh and Di An.

In December 2022, we released our latest Public Service Announcement (PSA), "Ditzy Man", as a friendly reminder to every citizen in Vietnam that wildlife is protected by law and violations might face serious consequences. The comedic PSA follows a young man who hears police sirens while illegally fishing by the lake. He flees and accidentally hides in a restaurant that specializes in wildlife dishes. He ends up getting caught up in the raid of the restaurant, as the owner, chef and patrons are arrested. Police send him on his way with a warning, “Advertising and buying wildlife is illegal. Follow the rules and keep yourself safe”.  

It's thanks to your support that such progress has been possible, and we are so grateful to have you on our side fighting the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam. We look forward to updating you again very soon!