A white-cheeked gibbon has been returned to the wild after being illegally kept by a family in Ha Tinh for 10 years.

DTiNews  recently visited the house of Pham Van Hung at Son Truong Commune, Huong Son District after being informed that a white-cheeked gibbon was being held captive.

The animal, weighing about 30 kilos, was being kept in a large steel cage.

Hung said that he had raised the monkey for several years but refused to explain how it came into his possession.

DTiNews reported the news to the province's forest ranger department on June 14 and local authorities immediately sent a group to Hung's house.

Hung told the forest rangers that he found the gibbon ten years ago during a patrol when he was working as a border guard.

"It was very small and seriously injured," he said. "I took him home and have kept it until now."

Hung had returned the gibbon to the forest rangers who then released it back to local forest after a heath check.

White-cheeked gibbon is a species of gibbon native to South East Asia. They have been listed among 25 critically endangered species in need of urgent protection.

Keeping wild animals which are listed as critically endangered species is banned in Vietnam and violators may face up to seven years in jail.

Dtinews