A farmer in Vinh Long Province has been keeping thousands of night herons at his longan orchard without any support from authorities.

Thousands of night herons make their home in Chia's orchard

For the past seven years, the 6,000-square metre longan orchard owned by Le Van Chia of Gia Kiet Hamlet, Tra On District has been home to a flock of night herons. In order to protect the birds, Chia was willing to lose hundreds of million of VND in harvests.

The birds started to come to Chia's orchard in 2007. At first, only a few dozen herons stayed at the orchard in daytime and went to search for food at night. When no one chased them away, the number of herons increased and Chia was afraid that the birds might destroy his orchard. He said, "All the flowers and fruits were ruined as soon as they bloomed. However, I didn't dare to use toxic chemical to get them to leave. Actually, I was afraid that the birds would leave."

Herons rest in the trees

Chia eventually gave up the 6,000-square metres orchard to the birds, now only growing longan on the remaining 8,000-square metre area outside. He also spends a lot of time and effort to protect the herons. When hunters use nighttime as their cover, Chia stays up most of the night to keep guard.

Due to the huge number of birds, Chia had sought support from authorities. In 2011, Vinh Long Province Forest Ranger Unit conducted a field survey but provided no support. They thought it too difficult to guard the orchard and said that the birds would leave sooner or later because of the limited food supply.

Chia guards his orchard alone and gives fish and shrimp to the herons. "Even though I've picked up a lot of traps set by the hunters, there are still more and the traps have killed several of the birds. At this rate, they'll scare off the herons from this orchard. I'm nearly 70 years old. Who will protect the birds after I die?" Chia said.

A heron dies from hunters' trap

His wife is displeased by the loss of income from the orchard, but Chia is determined to protect the birds. Chia hopes to place barbed wire around the orchard and replace longan with coconut to earn some income.

"No organisations seem willing to help me so I'll use my own money. I'm happy when I hear the sound of the herons and watch them return food," he said.