Le Thanh Than, a millionaire in the central region of Vietnam spent one trillion dong to buy two rhinos to breed on his farm. The collection of wild beasts of Than also includes a couple of zebra from Africa, a couple of white horses, tens of antelopes and stags and two ostriches. However, what most attract visitors are the two tigers and one bear. In addition, Than is planning to buy two white tigers in the future.
Meanwhile, a rich man in district 12 in Ho Chi Minh City has a crocodile pond in front of his house, which helps him relax while seeing the crocodiles biting the bait. Additionally, in his backyard, there is a big cage capturing two pythons, six venomous snakes, three bears and one chimpanzee. The total value for the “mini collection” of this rich man in the real estate sector is estimated at hundreds of millions of dong.
The millionaires not only have to spend money to buy the wild animals, but also to set up firm cages for them and feed them every day. The food for the animals alone cost these rich people several million dong a day, which is enough to feed a family in rural areas in Vietnam for a month. Besides, they also have to spend money on the workers in charge of taking care for the precious animals and feed them everyday.
In Vietnam, competent agencies still keep different viewpoints about whether to allow individuals to own and breed wild beasts. The divergence arises from the fear whether or not that people breeding wild animals may “violate the laws” one day. Do Quang Tung, Deputy Director of CITES Vietnam, believes that it would be okay to allow individuals to breed wild animals just for displaying, not for commercial purpose. Tung also said that the import of the two rhinos of the millionaire in Nghe An province does not violate the CITES convention.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Phuong Dung, Deputy Director of ENV (Education for Nature Vietnam) thinks that Vietnam should not allow breeding wild animals at private farms, stressing that this work should be assigned to the establishments put under the state’s control. If individuals really want to breed the animals, they must bear the supervision of the state management agencies to ensure that the breeding serves the purposes written down in the licenses.
Nguyen Can Tho, Director of the Nghe An provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, also said that it is quite a normal thing to allow an individual to breed two rhinos. He said the individuals that breed animals should be highly appreciated for their contribution to the conservation and biodiversity protection.
The above news item is reprinted from materials available at Vietnam.next Bridge. Original text may be edited for content and length.
(Source: Vietnam.net Bridge, 27.10.2012)
