A wild monkey and a pygmy loris were recently handed over to the Wildlife Rescue and Protection Centre at the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park in the central province of Quang Binh (Illustrative photo: VNA)QuangBinh (VNA) – A wild monkey and a pygmy loris were recently handedover to the Wildlife Rescue andProtection Centre at the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park in thecentral province of Quang Binh.
Themonkey (scientifically known as Macaca leonine) weighing 5.2kg and the pygmyloris (scientifically known as Nycticebus pygmaeus) weighing 0.2kg were voluntarilyrelinquished by local people. They are listed as endangered animals which needurgent protection.
Arepresentative of the WildlifeRescue and Protection Centre said it will look after the animals and releasethem into their natural habitat when appropriate.
Wildlife protection hasbecome stricter under policies outlined in amendments to the Penal Code thattook effect on January 1.
Protected wildlife undercriminal law has been extended from rare, precious and endangered animals toall types of wildlife, Lieutenant General, Associate Professor Tran Van Do,former Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court and Chief Justice ofthe Central Military Court said on January 30 at a seminar on Vietnam and lawenforcement efforts to protect wildlife organised by CHANGE and WildAid(CHANGE, Centre of Hands On Action and Networking for Growth and Environment).
Under the amended PenalCode 2015, hunting, catching, killing, rearing, caging, transporting andtrading wild animals is criminalised. This extends to possession of dead animals, body parts and products ofrare, precious and endangered wild animals.
The maximum jail term forcrimes related to wildlife management has increased to 15 years.
Violations in protectingrare, precious and endangered wildlife are considered “very serious offence”instead of “serious offence” as stated in the previous code, he said.
Vietnam joined theConvention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES) in 1994 and the country has legalised the treaty in a full manner.-VNA
