VietNamNet Bridge – Authorities in the northern province of Quang Ninh have caught red-handed two men trying to smuggle 137 rare and protected pangolins into China in two vehicles.

Authorities in the northern province of Quang Ninh have caught red-handed two men trying to smuggle 137 rare and protected pangolins into China in two vehicles.—Illustrative image

The mammals, believed to be heading for the dinner table, weighed a total of more than 620 kilos.

At noon last Thursday, July 18, police in Ha Long City stopped the first car as it travelled from Ha Long to Mong Cai District and found 75 pangolins without legal documents.

The driver admitted he was taking them to China.

A day before, police in Hai Ha District discovered another 62 pangolins also headed for China.

Some of them had died because of cramped conditions and many others were in poor health.

The Ha Noi-based Soc Son Wildlife Rescue Centre has been asked to help save the pangolins.

Every year, hundreds of pangolins are illegally caught and sold in Viet Nam despite the fact that they are protected from hunting and for sale.

Source: VNS