Forest rangers act as brokers for wildlife trade

Forest rangers act as brokers for wildlife trade

Instead of protecting wildlife, a number of forest rangers have helped illegal traders of wild animals captured from forests in the southern province of Dong Nai, a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper investigation has found.

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correspondents have managed to meet forest rangers and record that they have dealt with both the traders and buyers of wild animals.

On August 13, at a café in Dong Nai’s Dinh Quan District, a man called P., hailing from Ho Chi Minh City, met Mai Ngoc Dat, a forest ranger, to discuss a wildlife deal.

After P. said he needed to buy both wild and captive animals, Dat said he could meet P’s demands at any time, in any quantity, and for any animal species.

P. also asked Dat about the prices of bear gall bladders, and the forest protection worker said, “It depends on the types of gall, ranging from VND300,000-500,000 to millions of dong [VND1 million ~ US$470] per cubic centimeter (cc).”

On August 14, Dat took P. to an eatery named Tuu Quy, in Phu An Commune, Tan Phu District, to meet a woman called Nhung, the owner of the business, which provides “specialty food”, as shown on a sign board for it on National Highway 20.

The restaurant is just a few hundred meters from the Preventive Forest Management Board 600 office.

Nhung told Dat that she could provide animals captured from forests at soft prices. “No other traders can offer you cheaper prices than me,” she stressed.

Pham Van Giao, director of the Preventive Forest Management Board 600, under the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, told Tuoi Tre that Dat is a forest protection ranger at the board.

Giao said he has yet to learn of Dat’s acts as a broker for the wild animal trade. He emphasized that he will verify the information.

Forest ranger marketing wildlife, bear gall

On June 13, at a café in Hieu Liem Commune, in Dong Nai’s Vinh Cuu District, a man call Van, in a forest ranger uniform, provided P. with several phone numbers and agreed to meet P. again in Vinh An Town.

That afternoon they met, and Van told P. to be careful while transporting wildlife. “Without documents, you will be fined VND6 million ($283) for a Java mouse deer transported.”

Transporters of Java mouse deer, snakes, deer, and weasels must have documents during transit.

Van then handed P. a list of animal prices for reference.

On July 8, Van told P. at a cafe in Dong Nai’s Trang Bom Town that he could provide bear gall at a price of VND120,000 ($5.7) per cc.

P. later bought 5 cc of bear gall from Van.

According to the Vinh Cuu District Forest Protection Office, Van, whose full name is Le Quoc Van, is a member of a mobile ranger team of the agency.

Tuoi Tre also found that wild animals, animal meat, and bear gall were illegally traded by many people in several districts of Dong Nai.

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