VietNamNet Bridge – In the last five months, the public has been captured by many cases related to the wildlife in Vietnam. Because of greedy and lack of knowledge of related people, many rare animals of Vietnam were killed.

Giant dragon fish struck to dead

On the evening of February 22, two people in Binh Minh district of the southern province of Vinh Long caught a giant dragon fish of nearly 50 kilos, 1.7m long in the Hau River, a branch of the Mekong River in Vietnam.

They did not know that this was a rare fish so the struck it dead and brought it to a market in Can Tho city to sell.

As the fish looked strange, local people did not dare to buy it. They also said that this was a sacred fish, which made the two fishermen scared. Finally, they carried the fish into a temple to burry.

Many locals flocked to the temple to see the giant fish. Some of them were ornamental fish breeders and they realized that this was a rare giant dragon fish. They felt regret that the fish was dead. A similar fish is worth several thousand USD.

The death of Beckham the elephant

A male elephant named Beckham, which was 38 years old, around 4 tons in weight, of the Nam Qua tourist site in Da Lat city, Lam Dong province, was found dead on the morning of April 24. The bloody body of Beckham was discovered around 3km from the place where it was bound in its last night.

The elephant’s body was tied to a large tree and its rear legs’ ligaments were cut off. Its ivories and tail however were not removed. Many trees in the area were also felled.

Beckham was considered the nicest elephant in Da Lat and the last male elephant that still had both tusks and tail hairs. The animal was very obedient and could understand human language.

The elephant was bought from Dak Lak’s Don Village – the most famous village for taming elephants in Vietnam – 12 years ago, at the price of VND700 million ($50,000).

This is a typical case of elephant murder in Vietnam that raised the public in high outrage.

Torturing and killing rare monkeys

Some photos featuring cruel scenes posted on the Facebook page of Quang Nguyen Van on July 11, stirring up social anger.

The online community was in an outrage of pictures that show a group of young men abusing and then boiling two endangered monkeys, one of them pregnant.

In the images, the men bound the limbs of the pregnant monkey and forced it to smoke before posing eagerly with the carcasses.

Within hours of the Internet posting, animal rights advocates and others criticized the men and called them inhuman in more than 1,000 comments.

The monkeys are douc langurs (Pygathrix), which are listed in Vietnam’s Red Book of endangered and threatened species, according to Professor Vo Quy at the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental at the National University of Hanoi.

The people involved in this case have been identified, including three soldiers of the Central Highland Army Corps and four civilians.

Two Mekong giant catfish also die

On July 21, fishermen caught an 86kg Mekong giant catfish, a very rare species, in the Hau River, in the southern province of An Giang. A local man named Huynh Thanh Hong bought the fish and released it into his family pond. The fish was reported in good health.

Hong informed the An Giang Department of Fishery about the rare fish. This state agency then carried the fish from Hong’s pond to a fish farm to give “special care” before releasing it back to the river. However, the rare fish immediately died at the fish farm.

Earlier, on July 5, An Giang fishermen also netted a 71kg Mekong giant catfish. However, the fish was also dead during the transportation process.

The pitiful end of a gayal

On July 23, a gayal appeared at the Phu Bai International Airport in Thua Thien-Hue province, central Vietnam.

About 60 people were put on standby since July 23 to prevent the gayal from entering the airport after the animal killed an old woman.

Local authorities mobilized about 60 policemen, forestry rangers and soldiers to block all the entrances to the airport. A task force was also set up inside the airport to protect the safety of arriving and departing flights.

Wildlife experts from Ho Chi Minh City arrived in the morning of July 24 to help search for and capture the animal by giving it an anesthetic shot. The animal was captured at 4.30pm of July 24.

The animal was craned onto a truck and then transported to an elephant breeding farm in Thuy Bang Commune, Huong Thuy Town for care, but it died at 7:30 pm.

The gayal’s death is under investigation.

The gayal is a rare endangered species listed in the Vietnam Red Book. This is also the most sought-after gayal species in the world. In Vietnam, the animal’s population is now only 300, and they are mainly seen in national parks such as those in Lao Cai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong provinces. The gayal is seriously endangered due to illegal deforestation and poaching.

Compiled by Le Ha