Protect Endangered Wildlife Against Exploitation

Your impact in action: what you helped ENV achieve

Between April and August this year, ENV recorded a total of 1,257 new wildlife crime cases, with 1,087 cases reported by the public. During this period, our dedicated staff, working alongside law enforcement, social media partners, and volunteers, successfully addressed 757 cases, including 10 criminal cases. As a result, 575 live wild animals, including 290 freshwater turtles and tortoises, 188 birds, four pangolins, three gibbons, one langur, two otters, and 269 other wildlife, have been rescued from illegal trade in Vietnam.

Bears

In 2025, our team continues to take strong actions to end bear bile farming in Vietnam. During this reporting period, three more bear farms have been closed, reducing the total number of bears in captivity to only 153, a 96% decrease since 2005. Additionally, our team has successfully addressed 69 bear crime cases reported by the public, including shutting down 15 Facebook pages with 627,867 members that advertised and sold bear bile, bear paws, and other bear-related products.

Tigers

Between April and August this year, ENV recorded 101 new tiger crime violations, mostly involving advertising and selling traditional medicine made from tiger bones, and jewelry crafted from tiger teeth and claws. During this reporting period, our hard-working team successfully resolved 83 tiger crime cases, including seizures of six tiger trophies from temples and private homes.

Pangolins

ENV recorded 43 new pangolin crime cases with 51 violations over the past five months. Thanks to the hard work of our team members, law enforcement authorities, and an NGO partner, a highly successful operation was conducted, leading to the seizure of more than 800 kg of pangolin scales and the arrest of a major wildlife trafficker. Additionally, during this period, three live pangolins were rescued from illegal trade.

Combating wildlife cybercrime

Wildlife cybercrime cases make up more than 90% of the total wildlife crime cases reported to ENV. In the last five months, ENV received 711 new wildlife cybercrime cases involving the advertising and sale of wildlife on popular platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.

Combating wildlife cybercrime remains a challenge for ENV and local law enforcement authorities, as it’s difficult to identify offenders and gather physical evidence for serious charges. Despite these challenges, law enforcement in Vietnam has continued to improve their efforts and has imposed stricter penalties for cybercrime traders, including the successful arrest and prosecution of offenders.

Over the past five months, our team, in collaboration with law enforcement and social media partners, has successfully resolved 557 wildlife cybercrime cases. As previously mentioned, 15 Facebook pages promoting and selling endangered species have been deactivated, thanks to the great efforts of our staff and the public, despite the lack of cooperation from Meta.

Communication and Public Awareness

Educating the public is an important component of our strategies for combating the illegal wildlife trade. In July, ENV released its 60th TV Public Service Announcement titled “ENV, not EVN.” The PSA used a common mix-up between ENV and EVN - the country’s large and sole electrical company - to encourage the public to report wildlife crimes to the ENV Wildlife Crime Hotline. The PSA was broadcast free of charge on 34 TV channels nationwide, reaching millions of viewers across the country.

Besides the TV PSA, ENV also partnered with the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) to promote the ENV Wildlife Crime Hotline on their traffic radio stations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City during daily rush hours. These are the most popular radio channels in Vietnam.

Links:

• ENV website

This year, ENV remains steadfast in our mission to protect endangered wildlife from exploitation in all its forms, from illegal online sales to trafficking and captivity. Our work is grounded in a comprehensive strategy: strengthening wildlife protection laws, supporting law enforcement to investigate and prosecute crimes, and engaging the public to raise awareness and promote shared responsibility for wildlife protection.

In the first three months of 2025, our Wildlife Crime Unit logged over 470 new wildlife crime cases, consisting of more than 1,400 individual violations. We are pleased to share that, with ENV's support, 987 live wild animals have been confiscated or voluntarily transferred, including pangolins, tortoises and freshwater turtles, wild birds, macaques and other illegal “pets”.

We are thrilled to share with you some of the highlights and activities that were made possible with your continued support.

Bears

Our commitment to ending bear bile farming in Vietnam continues, and it will until the last of the 167 bears still held at 57 farms are voluntarily surrendered to the authorities by their owners.

In April, our team took action on the ground in Phuc Tho district of Hanoi, the largest remaining hotspot for bear farming in the country. We reached out to the local community by distributing postcards urging residents to “ACT NOW.” The postcards included the names of the 16 bear owners still keeping bears in captivity, encouraging neighbors to speak up and pressure these individuals to transfer their bears to sanctuaries, giving these animals a second chance at life.

Elephant ivory

In our latest effort to combat ivory crimes, in April, we released our 59th 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.

Vietnam continues to face challenges in combating the illegal ivory trade. Over the past five years, ENV’s Wildlife Crime Unit has documented 2,116 ivory crime cases, comprised of 5,982 individual violations and an estimated 283,729 illegal ivory products. Advertising and selling elephant ivory through social media, in particular Facebook, and other online marketplaces, accounted for 92% of the total cases.

Internet crime

In the first three months of 2025, ENV documented over 1,000 instances of online wildlife violations, involving individuals advertising and selling wildlife on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.

While some social media platforms have proven responsive and cooperative in efforts to tackle wildlife crime on their platform, Facebook has become increasingly isolated as the center for most illegal wildlife trafficking online in Vietnam. ENV’s Wildlife Crime database shows that 95% of all illegal online wildlife advertising and sales take place on Facebook, and last year only, 206,927 live animals, parts, and products were documented for sale by ENV on Facebook alone. 

While our internet crime research campaigns and responses to reports from the public are still in full force, 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 providing links to 10 of the most offensive Facebook users or wildlife trade groups engaged in the sale of live animals or products such as ivory or tiger, and we invited our followers to report these violations directly to Facebook, empowering the public to take action and amplifying our collective impact.

In the first two editions, hundreds, if not thousands of people reported each of these 10 links, leading to 11 of the most violating accounts or groups advertising a variety of endangered species and their products being deactivated. These groups accounted for more than 136,000 members who can no longer use these groups to exploit wildlife or profit from illegal trade.

Communication and Public Awareness

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.

As we move through 2025, our passion and commitment to protecting endangered wildlife from exploitation remain as strong as ever. With your continued support on our side, we’re inspired and ready to achieve an even greater impact together.

Until next time,