Vietnam’s Wildlife Trafficking Problem

News of the death of Hanoi’s venerated Hoan Kiem Lake turtle – the fourth of its kind left in the world ­­– flooded social media in Vietnam last month (January).

The Yangtze giant softshell turtle was about 100 years old and held spiritual significance tied to the country’s folklore, which claims that a turtle deity helped Emperor Le Loi defeat Chinese invaders in the 15th century.

As Vietnamese mourned the loss of a legend and criticized the city for polluting its habitat, an undercover officer was attempting to save another endangered turtle that was about to be killed and sold by a Vietnamese national across the Cambodian border.

This dichotomy did not go unnoticed by welfare workers like Tuan Bendixsen, Vietnam Director of Animals Asia, which aims to end the bear bile trade in Vietnam and China.

“There’s been lots of discussion about the passing of the Hoan Kiem turtle and whether or not it’s a sign,” he said in a statement. “I have to say that it is – it is a sign that we must value and care for our animal friends. Individually and as species.”

Vietnam has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and its traditional medicine market has been expanding in kind. While no comprehensive studies have tracked the demand for illegal animal-based medicines, wildlife welfare and monitoring organizations say the trade of bear bile, pangolin scales and other products is unlikely to disappear any time soon.

Online Market

As Vietnam’s law enforcement gets better at busting traditional medicine shops and restaurants that sell exotic meats and medicines, wildlife traffickers are increasingly and brazenly turning to social media to advertise their products. They sell everything from rhinoceros horns that purportedly cure hangovers to tiger bone glue marketed as a sexual stimulant.

Hanoi-based NGO Education for Nature-Vietnam handled more than 270 Internet cases in 2015, many of which culminated in undercover Facebook stings.

One case that caused public outcry last month involved a man in Nghe An Province who posted graphic photos on Facebook of macaques being slaughtered for their bones, which are boiled down into “monkey bone glue.” A 100-gram block fetches more than $200 and claims to cure a variety of ailments.

With ENV’s assistance, law enforcement officers tracked down the man responsible for slaughtering the monkeys, but since macaques are not protected under Vietnamese law, he received only an administrative fine.

In theory, traffickers of highly protected species can receive up to 15 years of jail time under Vietnam’s newly revised penal code. But Douglas Hendrie, advisor of ENV, said he’s never seen it happen.

“No one has gotten barely even two or three years,” he said. “We’re moving along, but we’ve got a long ways to go. The big gap in enforcement is application of the law.”

Status Symbol

According to a market study by Euromonitor International, legal herbal and traditional medicines have witnessed steady growth over the past five years.

Last year, sales hit VND6.2 trillion ($278 million), representing growth of 14 percent. Euromonitor predicts sales will grow at 6 percent annually to reach VND8.4 trillion in 2020.

“In 2015, herbal/traditional products gained significant popularity among consumers,” the report stated. “Many Vietnamese believe that herbal/traditional products have fewer side effects compared to standard products because they are made from natural ingredients.”

On Lan Ong Street, Hanoi’s traditional medicine hub, business owners are skittish of questions about their trade, having been asked about animal trafficking by welfare organizations many times before.

Traditional medicine salesman Nguyen Kim Bang huffily dismissed claims that animal products like pangolin scales are still sold on the street, stating that those products are imported from China, and he doesn’t trust Chinese products.

But he was eager to discuss the increasing demand for traditional medicine in general.

“It has been developing over the last five years,” he said of the market. “People trust traditional methods because they don’t have a negative affect like the Western medicines.”

Madelon Willemsen, head of the Hanoi office at trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, believes there is a correlation between Vietnam’s burgeoning economy and the doggedness of the illegal wildlife trade.

For many, a rhino horn billed at thousands of dollars is a symbol of success.

“You derive more status when you can afford these more precious and rare products,” she said.

At 7 percent, a small minority of rhino horn users also believe the product can cure cancer – a fairly new trend that does not have roots in the traditional medicine handbook, Willemsen said.

As a result of intensive poaching, the last Javan rhino was found dead in Vietnam in 2010 and declared extinct in the country the following year. Now, Vietnamese demand drives international exports from Africa, where poaching reached an all-time high in 2015, according to new reports.

TRAFFIC’s rhino expert Tom Milliken called on Vietnam to fully implement the provisions agreed upon by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and also close the cross-border markets that service Chinese consumers.

“Failure to do so means the future outlook for Africa’s rhinos remains very bleak.”

Glimmer of Hope

Animals Asia works to rescue bears from bile farms in Vietnam and China and recently wiped out the practice in the northeastern Quang Ninh Province.

Bear bile, used in traditional medicine to aid digestion, is extracted via painful and invasive methods, often leading to serious infections or death. Much of the demand comes from South Korea, but domestic demand remains strong.

About 1,200 bears still remain in captivity in Vietnam, down from 4,400 in previous years. The organization is now targeting a 200-bear bile farm in Phung Thuong, about 30 km west of Hanoi. A sign posted along the highway openly advertises bear products.

In addition to working with traditional medicine practitioners and pharmacists to reduce demand, the organization is also hosting a school event in Phung Thuong to influence attitudes towards wildlife at an early age.

Bendixsen said he believes demand is decreasing, but it is a slow process that involves gaining local people’s trust and changing long-held beliefs.

“That’s what we did in Quang Ninh – we got the local people behind us. In the end, they were sick of hearing about it and they didn’t want the bear bile farms in their neighborhood anymore,” he said. “Once we have the support behind us, it’s much easier.”