I decided to follow the rangers of Cat Tien National Park on a patrol, motivated by the hot story. It was early March 2023, when a group of hunters recklessly attacked and injured four rangers of Cat Tien National Park. A few days earlier, a ranger here was also attacked by a group of illegal loggers who blocked his car and caused serious injuries.
Disseminate patrol plan
The arduous patrol route
At 5:30 a.m., Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, Head of the Mobile KL Station (Cat Tien National Park KL Department), called to urge me to prepare to join the group to patrol the forest and reminded: "Journalists must have a full breakfast to have the strength to go to the forest". At more than 6 o'clock, I arrived at the KL station, everyone was dressed neatly and fully prepared. Today's patrol area was Lot 11, in Sub-area 42. Mr. Binh said that Cat Tien National Park has a lot of wild animals, including endangered species that need to be strictly protected. Therefore, in addition to general forest protection, wildlife protection is a regular job of the LLKL.
From the mobile KL station, the patrol team of 5 people equipped with necessary tools and weapons set off on motorbikes. After riding for about 5 km, reaching the planned location, the motorbikes were hidden at the edge of the forest, and everyone began their journey on foot through the forest. "You might encounter loggers attacking you. But don't worry, we will protect you," KLV Chieu Van Hai, who was recently attacked and seriously injured by poachers, reassured me.
Mr. Binh said that he chose the daytime time and the patrol route through the forest of about 10 km like today because he did not want to "torture journalists". However, for me, this trip was already very difficult. The Cat Tien primeval forest is densely covered with trees and dense vegetation. The patrol team had to cut through trees, weave through trees, and overcome rough terrain to move. Anyone who thought it was cool in the middle of the forest was wrong. In the hot season, there was not a breath of wind in the forest, so everyone was sweating profusely. Perhaps because of sweating too much, my blood pressure suddenly dropped. Thanks to having an electrolyte pack and some Ngoc Linh ginseng pills ready to use, I quickly recovered my health to continue the journey. "Today's patrol is nothing compared to many overnight patrols, or patrols lasting 3-4 days, with walking distances of dozens of kilometers through the forest. On those trips, we have to bring rice, dried fish, and salted meat into the forest to cook. At night, we sleep in hammocks in the middle of the forest to ambush loggers. During the rainy season, with mosquitoes, leeches, slippery roads, climbing steep slopes, wading through streams... it's even more difficult," said Hoan, a KLV born in 1995.
After traveling about 4 km, the patrol team discovered suspicious traces. Looking at the footprints on rotten leaves, cigarette butts, broken branches, etc., Mr. Nguyen Van Binh commented: "These are traces of wild animal hunters, but they must have been gone for a long time. You can tell by the traces of broken branches." However, the patrol team remained on high alert. Under the command of the station chief, they carefully followed the traces and were ready to deal with the illegal loggers.
KLV Chieu Van Hai, who was attacked and injured by a group of wild animal hunters in early March 2023
Face the danger
The hardships and difficulties of patrolling to protect forests and wildlife are a given for LLKL. The 24-year-old KL Lai Trung Kien even compared it to "a small matter like a rabbit". Facing unexpected dangers is truly a big, unforgettable thing.
In early 2023, the patrol team of Da Lat KL station experienced a "thrill" when facing a ferocious bull. That time, after finishing the patrol, the patrol team went to the edge of the forest to get their motorbikes started and prepare to go home when suddenly a bull with sharp horns came from somewhere and charged straight at them. Fortunately, the two KLVs managed to throw their motorbikes away and hide in the forest. "The person was saved but the motorbike was destroyed," said KLV Chiu Van Hai.
Being attacked by a wild bull in Cat Tien National Park is not uncommon, and not every time the LLKL can escape. The rangers here recounted that one of their colleagues at the Sa Mach Range Station was gored by a wild bull and had his thigh broken.
Forest animal traps seized by Cat Tien National Park rangers
It is not uncommon for elephants to terrorize and even attack loggers. Long patrols, where they have to sleep in the forest and lie in wait at night to catch illegal loggers in areas with elephants, are very dangerous. "Elephants walk very gently when entering the LLKL camp. If we are not careful, they will destroy the camp to take our food. Sometimes they even chase us away," said KLV Nguyen Van Tuan. Just last year, during a long patrol, a group of KL had to go hungry because of a male elephant. "It loomed towards the patrol team's rest stop. It was not a shame to avoid the elephant, so the whole team shouted to each other to run. When we returned, the elephant had destroyed all the tents, hammocks and eaten all the rice, salt and food," said Tuan.
HARD WORK, LOW SALARY
Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, Head of the Mobile Forest Ranger Station of Cat Tien National Park, said that the job of a forest ranger is very hard and faces many potential dangers. Forest rangers at Cat Tien National Park can only return to their families for 8 days a month, and the remaining 22 days are at the station on duty 24/7. Meanwhile, their salaries and benefits are low. Mr. Binh is the station chief and has worked in the industry for 22 years, but his salary is only over 8 million VND, while newly hired forest rangers with university degrees have a total income of just over 4 million.
However, facing the recklessness and recklessness of groups hunting wild animals is the most dangerous challenge. Cat Tien National Park has many animal species, many of which are rare and have high economic value. In particular, some species are very accessible such as deer, weasels, porcupines, wild boars and their habitats are quite close to residential areas. Therefore, wild animal hunting in Cat Tien National Park still occurs frequently. "Recently, groups hunting wild animals have been very reckless. Therefore, LLKL is always mentally prepared to deal with them, bringing peace to wildlife," said Mr. Nguyen Van Binh.
The story of dealing with groups of hunters in Cat Tien National Park in early March 2023 was still hot when I met the heroes in this incident. At around 3:00 a.m. on March 2, 2023, the mobile KL patrol team coordinated with the Nui Tuong KL station and Ta Lai KL station to patrol. When discovering a group of 6 hunters, the KL brothers chased after them but were fought back with knives and pepper spray. "One KLV was injured from the ear to the chin, one was injured on the cheek, one was injured on the arm and chest... However, we were determined to capture and seize the evidence including 3 sacks and 1 backpack, including 1 wild boar, 1 deer, 7 cheo, 1 civet, 1 homemade gun, 3 knives, 6 lamps", KLV Chieu Van Hai recounted.
(to be continued)
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