Help 30 Women Fight Wildlife Crime in Vietnam

During this reporting period, the women of ENV continued to collaborate closely with members of the public and law enforcement to tackle wildlife crime across the country. In the first three months of 2025, ENV received more than 470 new wildlife crime cases, consisting of more than 1,400 individual violations. With ENV's support, 987 live wild animals have been confiscated or voluntarily transferred during this period, including pangolins, tortoises and freshwater turtles, wild birds, macaques and other illegal wildlife.

Below are a few examples of successes achieved by our team since our last report:

• In February 2025, following a public report via the ENV Wildlife Crime Hotline, the Economic Department of Kien Giang imposed a VND 85,000,000 fine on an online wildlife trader for advertising illegal wildlife products. The individual had first been reported to ENV in 2022 for selling items such as ivory products, pangolin scales, and bear claws on social media (Case ref. 24805/ENV).

• In March 2025, ENV received a public report about an individual advertising wildlife and wildlife products online. We promptly relayed the information to the Phu Binh Commune People’s Committee in Dong Nai province. Acting on the report, authorities confiscated a python, a snake, a civet, and several frozen birds and squirrels from the subject’s residence. The individual and his wife were issued an administrative fine of VND 17,750,000 for their violations (Case ref. 24782/ENV).

• On March 24, 2025, the Hanoi City Forest Protection Department responded to a public report via the ENV Wildlife Crime Hotline and confiscated 76 songbirds from a local bird shop. The seized birds included 6 silver-eared mesias (Leiothrix argentauris), 4 red-billed leiothrixes (Leiothrix lutea), 5 white-rumped shamas (Copsychus malabaricus), 2 oriental magpie robins (Copsychus saularis), 30 Japanese white-eyes (Zosterops japonicus), 29 scaly-breasted munias (Lonchura punctulata). The seller received an administrative fine of VND 6 million, and all birds were transferred to the Hanoi Wildlife Rescue Center for care and rehabilitation (Case ref. 25776/ENV).

Legislation and Policy Team 

To establish stronger deterrents against wildlife crimes, in 2025, our Policy and Legislation Team continued focusing on several key cases, providing legal support to prosecutors and courts to ensure strict penalties for offenders.

Below are two cases of high significance for the future of wildlife protection in Vietnam:

• In 2019, the Environmental Crime Police Department (Ministry of Public Security), in coordination with authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, raided a wildlife breeding facility and confiscated 57 individual animals, including species that are strictly protected under Vietnamese law, such as clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa), Asiatic golden cats (Catopuma temminckii), small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinereus), spot-billed pelicans (Pelecanus philippensis), and peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus). Now, after five years, the People’s Court of Hoc Mon District has handed down a sentence: Truong Van Tuan, the owner of the facility, will serve 10 years and 6 months in prison (Case ref. 15454/ENV). This case highlights deep flaws in the current licensing and management system for wildlife breeding operations and raises serious questions about how origin tracing is enforced. For years, ENV has been urging authorities to issue a national “clean list” of species that can be legally farmed, and to strictly limit commercial wildlife farming to only those species. This conviction reinforces the urgent need for reform, and our Policy Team will use it as a clear example of how loopholes in the current system are enabling the trafficking of endangered wildlife. We’re committed to pushing for the “clean list” to become a reality.

• On May 5, 2025, the People’s Court of Hanoi sentenced Cao Xuan Manh, a major transnational tiger trafficker from Nghe An, to 7 years in prison. Manh's two accomplices were sentenced to 5 and 4 years in prison, respectively. In January 2024, Manh and two accomplices were caught by the Hanoi Economic Police Department while attempting to illegally trade a 4.1 kg rhino horn. While his accomplices were arrested, Manh managed to escape and flee to another country, only to return to Vietnam and surrender to the police in July 2024. Manh’s trafficking operations in Nghe An primarily focused on tigers, using sophisticated methods to supply everything from whole tigers to processed tiger bone for traditional medicine. Nghe An is becoming globally known as a notorious hotspot for illegal wildlife trafficking, particularly involving tigers. This 7-year prison sentence for a notorious wildlife trafficker from Nhe An, like Manh, is the only way to deter future crime and eliminate wildlife trafficking networks. The successful arrest and prosecution of Cao Xuan Manh by authorities in Hanoi has set an important precedent (Case ref. 14698/ENV).

Tackling online wildlife crime

In the first three months of 2025, ENV documented over 1,000 online wildlife violations, with individuals advertising and selling wildlife on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. Facebook remains the primary hub for this illegal activity in Vietnam, accounting for 95% of all online wildlife trade recorded by ENV. In 2024 alone, we recorded the sale of over 206,000 live animals, parts, and products on Facebook.

To confront this, we’ve taken our efforts a step further by actively involving the community through ENV’s Cyber Crime Day: held on the third Wednesday of each month, this initiative brings together volunteers and members of the public across Vietnam to combat wildlife crime on social media, particularly on Facebook.

Starting in March, we began sharing ten links of the most serious violators for our followers to report directly to Facebook. In the first two editions, public participation led to eleven of the most violating accounts or groups advertising a variety of endangered species and their products being deactivated.

Communications and Public Awareness Team

Our Communications Team works tirelessly to raise public awareness through newspapers, radio, TV, public service announcements, and even airport screens. Most recently, we launched a campaign at Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City airports, broadcasting messages about the harmful impacts of mercy release involving turtles. This effort reached millions of travelers, helping to inform and shift public attitudes toward more responsible behavior.

In our latest effort to combat ivory crimes, in April, we released our 59^th Public Service Announcement (PSA), titled “Follow the money”, which aims to help the public understand the connection between the seemingly innocent act of buying ivory jewelry or carvings and the killing of African elephants. The film follows a young woman browsing on her phone, casually scrolling through jewelry options. From the comfort of her sofa, she selects an ivory bracelet, imagining herself wearing it at an upcoming glamorous party. As the young woman clicks “buy now”, she experiences a horrific vision of an elephant’s murder, coming to understand in an instant where the ivory bracelet came from and how her purchase makes her complicit in the murder.

Thank you for making all of these possible and continuing to support our efforts to protect precious wildlife!

Until next time,