AR-News: (Vietnam) Mekong region unites to stop sale of wild animals

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Le Hung  Vong       Bears seized en  route from Kon Tum Province. — VNA/VNS 
Photo Sy  Huynh 
Mekong region  unites to stop sale of wild animals 
Le Hung  Vong 
The six countries of the  Mekong Basin region are banding together to fight 
the poaching and selling of  wild animals within and across their borders. 
Underground routes and a  variety of methods that deceive forest rangers and 
enforcement authorities are  used in illegal sales in Viet Nam, Laos, 
Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and  southern China. 
Poachers and their agents hide  animals in trunks of cars and under goods in 
large trucks or vans, and make  false declarations on export permits and 
certifications. 
Large networks and syndicates  are often employed, involving several groups 
of people, from hunters to  collectors in rural areas, up to middlemen and 
high-level traders in urban  centres, said Angie Woo, co-ordinator of the World 
Wildlife Fund’s Wildlife  Trade Advocacy Initiative, who spoke this week in 
Bangkok during a conference of  journalists from the Mekong Basin area. 
Some species of wildlife from  Mekong countries are consumed within the 
region as food and as ingredients in  traditional medicines. 
However, large volumes are  transported to markets elsewhere where they fetch 
a very high price, including  areas in East Asia, Europe and America. 
"Illegal and unsustainable  trade are depleting the rivers, mountains and 
plains of the Mekong Basin of  invaluable natural resources," Woo said. 
To save wildlife, endangered  animals in particular, the six governments of 
the Mekong Basin have agreed that  a regional solution will be the only 
effective solution.
 

full  story:

_http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/2004-06/30/Stories/20.htm_ 
(http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/2004-06/30/Stories/20.htm)  


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"Look deep into the eyes of any animal, and then  for a moment, trade places, 
their life becomes as precious as yours and you  become as vulnerable as 
them. Now smile if you believe all animals deserve our  respect and our 
protection, for in a way, they are us, and we are them."  -
Philip Ochoa Board Member, ALL FOR ANIMALS 
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>' .' <




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