VietNamNet Bridge – A man in Thanh Hoa Province has raised at least 10 tigers without any proper actions being taken by local authorities.

A tiger being kept at Chien's farm

Nguyen Mau Chien, of Xuan Tin Commune, has been raising tigers on a 1 hectare plot of land since 2006. According to Chien's brother-in-law, Chien was travelling through Na Meo Commune when he saw some tiger cubs that had been captured by locals. "He bought about 16 cubs. Two died in 2008, and three more died in 2010 and 2012."

Even though Chien raised the tigers, they are not tamed and some have attempted to attack strangers who get near to their cages.

Trinh Dinh Duc, chairman of Xuan Tin Commune People's Commune, said, "Many people worry about the potential of one or more of them escaping. Since Chien moved the cages to more isolated place, we have received fewer complaints. However, if something happened to Cau Chay Dam nearby, the tigers might easily escape."

The tigers are not tamed and some have attempted to attack strangers who get near to their cages

In 2007, Thanh Hoa Province People's Committee fined Chien VND30 million (USD1,400) for illegally keeping tigers. In 2008, Chien's brother-in-law was fined VND30 million for keeping 5 tigers. However, in 2012, Chien was granted permission to keep them.

The Tho Lam Ranger Unit said they did not know why Chien is keeping the animals, and that it is difficult for them to keep track of tigers in captivity. The Association for the Protection of Wildlife requested to take the animals, but Chien has not agreed to an amount for compensation.

In 2012, Le Xuan Canh, director of Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, said there are fewer than 50 wild tigers in Vietnam, compared to about 100 ten years ago. A project for monitoring tigers in Vietnam, run by Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, found that there are 76 tigers in captivity.

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