VietNamNet Bridge – Nguyen Van Huyen has just decorated his new home with a big dried head of a bull hung on the wall of the living room. He seemed pleased with the object which he claimed would bring prosperity for his family.

"I always have deep admiration for wild African bulls for their strength," Huyen said. "So I decided to hang its head here so that I can see it every day to give me more strength."

Some Vietnamese people believe that having a wild animal head or a pair of its horns in the house will help them ward off evil spirits and bring prosperity for the family.

As the Lunar New Year nears, dried heads and horns of wild animals are offered for sale on many streets in HCM City and neighbouring provinces. The heads of bulls, goats and antelope are advertised as having originated from Africa.

Dried animals heads sold on HCM City street

Linh, a vendor selling the heads on HCM City streets said that his boss has a friend in Africa who sends thousands of wild animal heads to Vietnam every year.

"We normally sell these products ahead of Tet holiday when local people start decorating their homes to welcome a lunar new year," Linh said. "I've sold nearly 500 heads in two weeks."  

According to the vendor, the prices of these heads mainly depend on the size and shape of their horns. "Bull heads range from VND 2-8 million (USD89-357). An antelope head with 60-centimetre long costs VND 4 million while a goat head is priced at VND 8 million.

In an interview with Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, head of the HCM City's Forest Management Department, Nguyen Xuan Luu, said that many of these heads were fake.

"Real wild animal heads can't look that smooth," Luu confirmed. "The horns can be truly imported from Africa because there are many companies that can legitimately import horns to produce fine art products in Vietnam. But many of them aren’t from wild animals but from home farms."

Luu revealed that most of the bull horns sold on the streets are not from wild bulls but from Ankole longhorn cattle raised on many African farms.

Ankole longhorn cattle raised on farms in Africa.

After checking the photos of the horns sold on HCM City's streets sent by a Nguoi Lao Dong reporter, Do Thi THanh Huyen from Wildlife At Risk organisation said that the Addax antelope is a critically endangered and the trading of it is illegal.

"We know that Addax horns have also been brought to Vietnam and are highly sought after for decoration by local people," Huyen said. "The price for a pair of horns is about VND 30 million. So the horns sold on the streets at that those prices can't be real. I think they are faked by some workshops using similar materials."

DTriNews/NLD