Legal foundations sought for tiger conservation in Vietnam
The Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV) on January 17 organised a seminar on tiger raising for conservation efforts in Vietnam.
Bui Thi Ha, ENV deputy director, said that the wild tiger population has decreased significantly in Vietnam and all around the world over the past 30 years. Meanwhile, the breeding of tigers for "non-commercial" purposes by individuals and businesses in Vietnam is growing strongly with the number of registered captive tigers increasing over the years. In the near future, relevant State agencies will conduct surveys and make records of all tigers being raised in Vietnam as well as set up up a national database to manage tigers in captivity within the framework of the National Programme on Tiger Conservation, she said.
Ha said this activity needs to be carried out at the same time with the adoption of measures to ensure the tiger conservation goal of Vietnam and the world.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), there were less than five tiger individuals left in the wild in Vietnam in 2016. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources also said that no signs of the presence of wild tigers in the country and there has been no further survey of the tiger in Vietnam since 2009. Although there is no official statement, many people suggested that tigers may have become extinct in Vietnam.
Participants at the seminar proposed the Government and relevant agencies complete legal provisions to tighten the management of tiger farming in Vietnam.
In the immediate future, it is necessary to issue a specific policy on breeding tigers including a regulation on birth control to ensure that the tiger population is maintained at a level that supports conservation effort, they said. Monitoring mechanisms should also be developed to prevent facilities from trading wildlife illegally.
The participants underlined the need to devise a separate legal document to comprehensively control the operation of non-commercial wildlife farms, including those that raising tigers as the foundation for the operation of legal establishments in the long term.
