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Vietnam a hub for trafficking of endangered animals
  • | dtinews.vn | November 19, 2010 01:48 PM

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Vietnam has become a hub and transfer zone for trafficking rare, exotic and endangered animals to other countries according to Deputy Minister of Public Security, Pham Quy Ngo.

Rare animals are sold for high prices

Ngo made the statement at a two-day national environment conference which opened in Hanoi on November 17.

According to Ngo, an increasing amount of cases have been detected in Vietnam in the past few years. The cross-border animal trafficking rings have used increasingly sophisticated methods to avoid being caught.

At a recent international conference on protecting rare animals in Eastern and Southeast Asian countries, the General Department of Forestry said it had uncovered hundreds of violations, confiscating over 8,000 animals of different types in the first ten months of this year alone.

Many Vietnamese people still like using wild animals and their products for traditional health beliefs, food and decoration.

The number of rare animals in the country has sharply decreased and many of them even face risk of extinction. Currently, up to 882 wild animal species are in danger.

During the third environment conference, reports also focused on the environmental pollution situation in Vietnam, particularly in the industrial areas. Despite having waste treatment systems, many enterprises still discharge toxic waste-water into the environment such as Vedan Vietnam, Tungkuang and Miwon.

A number of companies are using sophisticated tricks to illegally import waste, which is a high risk to turn the country into an industrial dumping ground.

Additionally, many localities are racing to license massive investment projects, ignoring the assessment of the possible environmental impacts. Laws related to the environment are still inconsistent and not strict enough to deal with violations.

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