A corner of Vu Quang National Park - Photo: LE MINH
Having a passion for animal care
Vu Quang National Park is the most biologically diverse center in Vietnam. It is home to many rare species of plants and animals and is a place to preserve many valuable genetic resources for conservation and research.
Every year, Vu Quang National Park also receives many wild animals for care before releasing them back into the wild. However, since 2018, the number of animals handed over to the park has increased dramatically.
The process of receiving a large number of animals requires a professional team to raise and care for them, but Vu Quang National Park still does not have a center specializing in this issue.
To handle the arising work, Vu Quang National Park assigned the task of receiving and caring for animals to a group of 7 people from the Department of Science and International Cooperation.
And although they are non-professional "doctors", this rescue group has worked more effectively than expected, having "revived" thousands of animals over the past 6 years to release them back into the wild.
Vu Quang National Park staff take care of animals before releasing them back into the forest - Photo: LE MINH
Ms. Le Thi Bao Ngoc (staff of the Department of Science and International Cooperation, Vu Quang National Park) said that when she and other colleagues were assigned to receive and care for animals, they were very surprised because they had never been through any training.
For the past 6 years, regardless of day or night, whenever receiving information from local people or authorities about animals that need to be handed over for re-release into the forest, Ms. Ngoc's group has set out to receive and bring them to Vu Quang National Park.
Every day at exactly 6am, Ms. Ngoc and the rescue team put on white blouses and go to the iron cages in the garden to clean, check the animals' health, feed them, and train them in basic skills to help them quickly integrate into the natural environment.
The job seems easy but is actually very difficult, because each animal has its own characteristics and instincts, so taking care of and training them is quite hard.
"Most of the animals we receive have been kept in captivity for a long time, they have almost lost their wild nature, so caring for and training them is really difficult.
For example, we take in a monkey but due to a change in its living environment, it stops eating, or we release a monkey back into the forest but it comes back a few days later, so we don't know what to do.
We had to call other rescue centers for advice, from those specific cases we could gain experience to "diagnose" and care for them, and train them" - Ms. Ngoc said.
Ms. Le Thi Bao Ngoc has been working as an animal caretaker at Vu Quang National Park for 6 years now - Photo: LE MINH
Animal care is not only difficult but also risky. Many of the animals that the rescue team takes in are very aggressive, even carrying deadly venom like the king cobra.
They can attack the staff at any time if they are not careful and cautious during the care process. In fact, many people in the staff group have been attacked by monkeys and left scars that have not yet completely faded.
"In October 2023, while re-releasing the monkeys back into the forest, I was attacked by a pig-tailed macaque on my arm. The bite required me to be hospitalized and receive 7 stitches; before that, another colleague was also bitten on the leg by a monkey.
However, after many years of working in this profession, although it is hard, taking care of wild animals also gives me joy, helps me gain more experience and also leaves me with many memories of the profession" - Ms. Ngoc confided.
A monkey at Vu Quang National Park is about to be released into the wild - Photo: LE MINH
Helping thousands of animals integrate into nature
According to statistics from Vu Quang National Park, from 2019 to now, it has received, cared for, and released 1,315 animals, of which 722 are endangered and rare animals.
Currently, this unit is taking care of and monitoring the health of more than 60 animals, including more than 30 monkeys, more than 20 turtles belonging to groups IB, IIB and some bird species.
Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung - Head of the Department of Science and International Cooperation (Vu Quang National Park) - said that the ultimate goal of receiving animals is to take care of them so that they are in stable health and can be released back into the natural environment as soon as possible.
However, each animal will have different assessments, approaches, and care times before being released back into the forest.
A rare turtle was received by Vu Quang National Park from the authorities - Photo: LE MINH
In general, the unit receives animals from two sources: animals that have been kept in captivity for a long time and are handed over. These animals have gradually lost their natural instincts, so when received, they must be cared for and trained for a period of time before being released back into the forest.
The second source is trapped wild animals, for which staff will act as "doctors" to treat their wounds and release them back into the forest as soon as their health is stable.
"To gain experience and skills in animal care, staff must regularly study on their own and be sent to professional rescue centers to gain additional knowledge. Therefore, despite not being properly trained, over the years, the staff has completed their tasks very well.
Many people even feel that taking care of animals is like being in their second home. Every time we release animals back into the forest, they look back, making us all have a special feeling," said Mr. Hung.
Monkey Island in Vu Quang National Park - where monkeys are released after a period of care - Photo: LE MINH
According to Mr. Hung, in recent years, Vu Quang National Park has received a sudden increase in the number of animals because the propaganda for wildlife protection has been promoted, people are more aware that keeping wild animals in captivity is a violation of the law, so many people voluntarily hand them over.
However, to ensure the best conditions for animal care after receiving, it is necessary to establish a rescue center, but this has not been done yet, so at times, the animal confinement area is almost overloaded.
"The rescue and release of important species in recent times has been carried out very effectively by Vu Quang National Park, contributing greatly to biodiversity conservation.
However, the unit's funding is limited and service equipment is still very difficult, so in the coming time, we hope that this task will be given due attention so that the work of "reviving" wild animals is always guaranteed in the best way" - Mr. Hung said.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhung-nguoi-chuyen-hoi-sinh-dong-vat-de-tra-ve-moi-truong-tu-nhien-20240530090136202.htm
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