Help 30 Women Fight Wildlife Crime in Vietnam

The first six months of 2025

During the first half of 2025, our team and our law enforcement partners in Vietnam have made great progress in combating the continued growth of wildlife online markets. Tougher enforcement measures have been applied by several law enforcement agencies to deter wildlife cybercrime traders. An individual who repeatedly advertises wildlife on social media may face substantial financial penalties, calculated by multiplying the penalty for a single violation by the total number of infractions within the statute of limitations. This approach ensures that each illegal post or advertisement is considered a separate offense. So far, this method has proven effective in reducing ongoing wildlife cybercrime violations. Here are some major highlights of our achievements during this period:

• Our team received over 1,200 new wildlife crime cases, comprising almost 4,000 individual violations. More than 50% of the new reported cases involved cybercrime.

• Our team members have successfully handled a total of 1,150 cases, with the majority, 890, being cybercrime cases.

• As a result of implementing a new measure to combat cybercrime and strengthen deterrence, substantial financial penalties were imposed in 33 cases. Notably, in three cases, three offenders faced significant fines for their violations, totaling VND 1,208,750,000 ($USD 48,350,000).

• With ENV's support, 1,371 live wild animals have been confiscated or voluntarily transferred, many of them were critically endangered species.

Below are a few examples of successes achieved by our team during the first six months of this year:

• On June 11, Bac Ninh Provincial Economic Police, with support from ENV, arrested two suspects and seized nearly 900 kg of pangolin scales stored in 46 sacks at a warehouse and garage. The scales came from long-tailed pangolin (Manis tetradactyla), giant pangolin (Manis gigantea), and white-bellied pangolins (Manis tricuspis)—critically endangered species targeted by international traffickers. The case followed a report in May 2025 from an international organization concerning a Bac Ninh dealer claiming to supply large quantities of scales. Swift action prevented a massive shipment from entering illegal markets and marked one of Vietnam’s largest pangolin trafficking cases (Case ref. 33766/ENV).
• On June 25, Facebook removed a wildlife trading group called "Vietnam Reptile Community", which contained 26,824 members, following a report submitted by ENV through the Ministry of Communication. The group, which facilitated the buying and selling of various exotic and native reptile species, was first discovered by an ENV staff member during social media monitoring (Case ref. 29016/ENV).

• On June 17, 2025, Can Tho City FPD responded to a public report via the ENV Wildlife Crime Hotline and confiscated a total of 61 turtles, including 46 giant Asian pond turtles (Heosemys grandis), five yellow-headed temple turtles (Heosemys annandalii), five elongated tortoises (Indotestudo elongata), and five red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) from a local pagoda. All the native turtles were transferred to Cat Tien National Park while the red-eared sliders, an invasive species, were destroyed (Case ref. 32086/ENV).

• On April 16, 2025, the Hanoi Economic Police, in collaboration with ENV, arrested a man and confiscated 10 black pond turtles (Geoclemys hamiltonii). A subsequent search of his residence uncovered one black pond turtle and four yellow pond turtles (Mauremys mutica). The suspect claimed that he had bought the turtles from a supplier in Bac Giang Province. The supplier was arrested the next day during a police inspection of his home, where 25 black pond turtles were seized. All turtles were taken to Hanoi Zoo (Case ref. 32884/ENV).

• On December 19, 2024, Thanh Tri District Police of Hanoi responded to the ENV Law Enforcement Evidence Package and arrested a woman at her apartment, where police confiscated seven grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus), five lovebirds, and two macaw parrots. This woman had been arrested twice before, in 2020 and 2021, but had not served a sentence due to caring for a child under 36 months old. The confiscated birds were transferred to Nam Hoi An Vinpearl River Safari in Quang Nam province. On March 28, 2025, the woman received a total of 48 months in prison, 22 months for her current violations and 26 months for a prior conviction (Case ref. 16487 and 25094/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).

• 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).

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. 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 (Case ref. 15454/ENV).

• 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).

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 releases involving turtles. This effort reached millions of travelers, helping to inform the public and shift attitudes toward more responsible behavior.

In April, ENV launched a radio advertisement campaign on the Traffic channel in Hanoi, the most listened-to radio station in Vietnam. This is part of our effort to end the cruel practice of bear bile farming in the capital city. The campaign aired daily in Hanoi for over two months, from April 23 to the end of June. The messages are as follows:

“Bear bile farming in Vietnam is nearing its end. 46 out of 63 provinces are now free of bear farms. However, Hanoi remains a major hub for bear bile farming, housing about 49% of the country’s total captive bears. As of August 2024, Hanoi still has 94 captive bears across 16 bile farms, making up 94.7% of the bears in Vietnam. Help put an end to bear farming in Hanoi today!”

“Let’s help encourage bear bile farmers in Hanoi to give their bears a better life by voluntarily transferring these last remaining bears to a rescue center. Report to ENV's toll-free hotline at 1800-1522 if you witness any bear crimes.”

In April, our team also sent postcards to 2,487 TCM practitioners, urging them to stop using pangolin scales

In our latest effort to combat ivory crime, in April, we released our 59^th Public Service Announcement (PSA), titled “Follow the money”, which aims to help the public understand the link 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. But as she clicks “buy now”, she is confronted with a horrific vision of an elephant’s murder, realizing 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!