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| November 08, 2003 |
vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn |
Dac Lac cracks down on animal poachers, smugglers in its parks DAC LAC — More drastic measures must be taken to protect rare animals in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Dac Lac, said the provincial director of Agriculture and Rural Development. Phan Muu Binh said the animals could become extinct, despite being under the protection of guards in the province’s national parks and nature reserves. The province manages Yok Don and Chu Yang Sing national parks and 10 nature reserves. They are home to 93 species of animals and 197 kinds of birds. Seventeen species are in the Red Book of Threatened Species, compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Binh said many poachers appeared in court this year. The most serious case involved two slaughtered gaurs — a massive wild ox — in Ea So Nature Reserve in the Ea Ka District in February. According to Binh, residents living in the forest nearby killed animals for food 10 years ago. Today, wild meat was a favourite of well-off people in large urban areas. Residents earned more money from hunting wild animals than farming, he said. Binh said poaching groups were well organised and armed with weapons. In March, residents from Krong Na Commune in Buon Don District killed a bull and three gaurs in Yok Don National Park with the help of a park official. Another dead gaur was found in a trap in May near the park’s border with Ea Sup District, he said. Binh said the park’s forest rangers had removed 50 traps set by residents in the park in the past two months. In the first nine months of 2003, Buon Don District’s Forestry Station encountered 11 cases of animal smuggling. They seized more than 200kg of animals, including an anteater, a python and a tortoise. Do Minh, head of the station, said the actual number of poaching and smuggling operations was much higher than reported because the hunters used care and sophisticated camouflage to avoid capture. Hunting ground Statistics compiled by the Ea So Nature Reserve suggested that last year alone, forest rangers disabled 8,000 traps in the dense forest. In 2001, the Ea Ka District’s Forestry Station recovered 1,029 poached animals weighing 4,235kg. In the first six months of this year, the station dealt with 76 poaching cases. It seized 73 animals weighing 2,229kg. Three months ago, the rangers recovered a frozen tiger in Cu Mga District. Do Ngoc Duyen, deputy director of Dac Lac Forest Control Department, said the Dac Lac-Phu Yen route was hot spot for poachers and smugglers. A lack of offices to check forestry products along the route and the mountainous terrain created favourable conditions for poachers and smugglers, he said. New direction To protect rare animal species and the forest, the chairman of the provincial People’s Committee issued Direction 07/2003/CT-UB to improve inspections and create tougher penalties for poaching and smuggling. The provincial Forestry Department and the districts’ People’s Committees planned to conduct more inspections in areas frequented by poachers and smugglers. Poachers and smugglers caught during the inspections would be punished. Restaurants and hotels would be asked to pledge not to buy wild meat and other animal products. Otherwise, they would face suspensions. In Ea Ka District, 33 households were moved from an illegal settlement near the Ea So Nature Reserve to Village 6 in the Ea So Commune. Some temporary houses located at the southern end of Cat Tien National Park in Dak R’Lap District were destroyed. Officials from Krong No District moved 32 households from area No8 in Quang Phu Commune to stop them from poaching in Chu Yang National Park. Duyen said the situation was better. However, improving the residents’ standard of living was a way to reducing poaching, he said. The State should
impose tougher sentences on poachers, including high-ranking officials.
The measures would create a safe haven for wild animals, he added. — VNS |
