The animal rescue team of Pu Mat National Park passes a stream while patrolling the forest (Photo: thanhnien.vn)Nghe An (VNS/VNA) - In the Pu Mat National Park of the central province of Nghe An, there is a special taskforce that rescues wild animals trapped by hunters.
Theanimal rescue team of the park has 15 members carefully selectedfrom 170 candidates.
Therescuers need to be in good health to go on forest trips for days at a timeand they need to love the forest and wild animals.
Themembers of the team are forestry engineers and bachelor holders whoexperienced intensive training before starting their job.
Le Van Thanh has been on the team for two years. The first time he went into theforest on a mission, he was obsessed by drawstring traps and cages placed inbushes by animal hunters.
Pu Mat, in the language of the Thai minority group, means many steep hills. Butcraggy hills in the forest are not as dangerous as animal traps which coverhundreds of metres, he said.
Afterplacing the traps, hunters put up tents and wait. Animals with high tradingvalues will be sold while those with lower values will be butchered and cooked inthe forest.
Whenthe hunters leave, the traps are still in the forest, waiting for other animalsto be ensnared.
Whenthe animal rescue team finds a trap, often many animals have died in it.
“Thetrapped animals look miserable. Trapped monkeys, langurs whose bodies werecovered with blood haunt our minds. Meanwhile monkeys and langurs in thegroup stand next to the injured bodies, helplessly looking at their kindpainfully begging for help,” Thanh said.
Whentrapped in steel wire traps, not only monkeys and langurs but big animals likewild boars and bears also give up, he said.
Lightly-injuredanimals are given first aid by the rescue team and then released into nature.Those with more severe injuries are taken to the animal rescue centre fortreatment.
The Pu MatNational Park is well known for its thousands of hectares of natural forestwhere 132 kinds of animals and hundreds of kinds of birds and reptiles live,making it a hotspot for hunting.
Over thepast two years, Thanh and other team members along with forest rangers havepatrolled some 95,000ha of forest in the park, facing hundreds of groups ofhunters.
Most of thehunters have guns that they can turn on forest rangers if they are caught.
“We don’thave weapons so we have to find peaceful solutions from our own experience andskills to persuade hunters to surrender, seize their guns and ask them toremove the traps,” Thanh said.
The taskforce recently returned from a nine-day trip in the forest. But a mere two dayslater, they plan to go back in.
“Huntersfollow our schedule and come back to the forest when we leave. Others who hadtheir weapons and traps seized continue to come back. We have to haveunexpected crackdowns,” Thanh said.
When theycome back the next time, the hunters do not put up tents by the stream, whichare easily recognised, but set up hammocks on high positions and wait.
They do notscatter traps over hundreds of metres but put single traps in differentlocations without leaving any trace.
“They placetraps and at the same time use guns to hunt and shoot animals. That’sreally a new challenge for the animal rescue task force,” Thanh said.
He said thetrips into the forest have never been easy.
“We climbthe mountain in the early morning and sleep on hammocks. Every corner in thepark is our home. We cook whenever we see a water source.
“We evenwalked dozens of kilometres to seek water but could not find any. The teammembers had to use plastic bags to get water from the trunks of mossy trees.Forest insects, fallen tree branches and sudden flooding might attack us anytime.”
In twoyears, the task force in collaboration with forest rangers has destroyed nearly6,500 animal traps, 300 tents of hunters and rescued hundreds of trappedanimals.
For therescuers, the monthly salary of 8 million VND (350 USD) does little to compensatefor all their hard work.
“But all ofthe team members feel they are part of the mission and are very passionateabout the work,” Thanh said./.
Theanimal rescue team of the park has 15 members carefully selectedfrom 170 candidates.
Therescuers need to be in good health to go on forest trips for days at a timeand they need to love the forest and wild animals.
Themembers of the team are forestry engineers and bachelor holders whoexperienced intensive training before starting their job.
Le Van Thanh has been on the team for two years. The first time he went into theforest on a mission, he was obsessed by drawstring traps and cages placed inbushes by animal hunters.
Pu Mat, in the language of the Thai minority group, means many steep hills. Butcraggy hills in the forest are not as dangerous as animal traps which coverhundreds of metres, he said.
Afterplacing the traps, hunters put up tents and wait. Animals with high tradingvalues will be sold while those with lower values will be butchered and cooked inthe forest.
Whenthe hunters leave, the traps are still in the forest, waiting for other animalsto be ensnared.
Whenthe animal rescue team finds a trap, often many animals have died in it.
“Thetrapped animals look miserable. Trapped monkeys, langurs whose bodies werecovered with blood haunt our minds. Meanwhile monkeys and langurs in thegroup stand next to the injured bodies, helplessly looking at their kindpainfully begging for help,” Thanh said.
Whentrapped in steel wire traps, not only monkeys and langurs but big animals likewild boars and bears also give up, he said.
Lightly-injuredanimals are given first aid by the rescue team and then released into nature.Those with more severe injuries are taken to the animal rescue centre fortreatment.
The Pu MatNational Park is well known for its thousands of hectares of natural forestwhere 132 kinds of animals and hundreds of kinds of birds and reptiles live,making it a hotspot for hunting.
Over thepast two years, Thanh and other team members along with forest rangers havepatrolled some 95,000ha of forest in the park, facing hundreds of groups ofhunters.
Most of thehunters have guns that they can turn on forest rangers if they are caught.
“We don’thave weapons so we have to find peaceful solutions from our own experience andskills to persuade hunters to surrender, seize their guns and ask them toremove the traps,” Thanh said.
The taskforce recently returned from a nine-day trip in the forest. But a mere two dayslater, they plan to go back in.
“Huntersfollow our schedule and come back to the forest when we leave. Others who hadtheir weapons and traps seized continue to come back. We have to haveunexpected crackdowns,” Thanh said.
When theycome back the next time, the hunters do not put up tents by the stream, whichare easily recognised, but set up hammocks on high positions and wait.
They do notscatter traps over hundreds of metres but put single traps in differentlocations without leaving any trace.
“They placetraps and at the same time use guns to hunt and shoot animals. That’sreally a new challenge for the animal rescue task force,” Thanh said.
He said thetrips into the forest have never been easy.
“We climbthe mountain in the early morning and sleep on hammocks. Every corner in thepark is our home. We cook whenever we see a water source.
“We evenwalked dozens of kilometres to seek water but could not find any. The teammembers had to use plastic bags to get water from the trunks of mossy trees.Forest insects, fallen tree branches and sudden flooding might attack us anytime.”
In twoyears, the task force in collaboration with forest rangers has destroyed nearly6,500 animal traps, 300 tents of hunters and rescued hundreds of trappedanimals.
For therescuers, the monthly salary of 8 million VND (350 USD) does little to compensatefor all their hard work.
“But all ofthe team members feel they are part of the mission and are very passionateabout the work,” Thanh said./.
VNA
