[wildtrade] Story at [soc Son] wildlife rescue centre

[Vern Weitzel]

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/features/2009/03/838978/

Story at wildlife rescue centre
00:00' 30/03/2009 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – At the Soc Son Wildlife Rescue Centre, even when a parrot 
dies, a council is set up to inspect the death before it is buried. The centre’s 
director and staff also “get sick” when a tiger gets sick.


This tiger got sick last year.

 From a sick tiger

We paid a visit to the Soc Son Wildlife Rescue Centre on a drizzly day. When we 
arrived, the centre’s Director Ngo Ba Oanh, in a raincoat, was guiding his 
employees to repair a big cage hosting over 100 civets, which were seized in a 
smuggling case by environmental police.

Before the civets came, this cage belonged to peacocks. It was covered with a 
grille. The cage smelt fishy because the civets were eating eels. Some dead 
civets had been placed outside the cage.

“We are not allowed to throw away the dead bodies of animals. When they enter 
our centre, wild animals become national assets,” Oanh said.

“If only one parrot dies, we have to put it into the frozen room to preserve it, 
then report to related agencies, and set up a council to inspect before burying 
the bird,” he added.

This is the protocol for a dead parrot, let alone a tiger. Oanh recalled: “Last 
July, an Indochina tiger suddenly got a cold. This is a male tiger, which was 
seized together with a female tiger by Hanoi environmental police in a smuggling 
case. They were handed over to our centre in early 2008. They grew up very fast 
after five months. The male tiger weighed 170kg at that time.”

“The tiger was very healthy at noon and it suddenly lied down on the floor in 
the evening. When I arrived at the cage, the tiger had mydriasis. We mobilised 
several veterinarians to take care of the tiger. They injected it with many 
kinds of medicines.”

Oanh asked veterinary doctors to live besides the tiger cage and make daily 
reports about its health to send to the Hanoi Veterinary Department.

The tiger was very weak for three days. Doctors used both western and oriental 
medicines to save it. On the 3rd night, doctors applied a traditional measure, 
splashing urine on the tiger’s face and the tiger regained its senses.

“It is so lucky for us. If it had died, we would have had to make an autopsy 
report, which is more complicated than a report on a man,” said the staff who 
takes care of the tiger.

Tiger with scabies from Dong Nai


The centre’s director Ngo Ba Oanh.
The Soc Son Wildlife Rescue Centre is taking care of three tigers. Besides the 
two above tigers, there is a smaller one, which had scabies on its body.

The centre received this tiger in December 2006 from Vuon Xoai farm in Long 
Thanh district, the southern province of Dong Nai. The farm owner said he bought 
four tigers to breed and three of them died of digestive diseases.

The local authorities seized the remaining tiger to transfer to the centre. When 
it arrived at the centre, the tiger was very weak and suffered from dermatitis. 
Diseases and the change of weather put the tiger in critical condition.

“At that time, I and a veterinary doctor and a driver went from Hanoi to Dong 
Nai to get the tiger. We brought it to Hanoi after a hard, long trip. When we 
arrived in Hanoi, we were surrounded and questioned by the media. They said our 
cage was too small and the tiger was so weak, so how could we save the tiger?”

Oanh said journalists visited the centre every day to see the tiger. The 
minister of agriculture and rural development paid a visit to the centre to see 
the tiger and to encourage the centre’s employees. The tiger didn’t die and is 
growing up, though it is not as healthy as other tigers.

When cages are opened?

The Soc Son Wildlife Centre is located on only one hectare of land in Soc Son 
district, Hanoi. Besides a small office, the centre has several cages, which 
look like a corner of the Thu Le Zoo in the centre of Hanoi.

The centre’s staff said some species of wild animals such as porcupines, bamboo 
rats, snakes and birds can be released into nature after a short time. But 
tigers, panthers, and bears need to live in a semi-natural environment to resume 
their hunting skills before they are set free, otherwise they will die or be 
caught again by hunters.

	
These animals live in a semi-natural environment to resume their hunting skills 
before they are set free.


There is a project to expand the centre to 12ha but this project is proceeding 
very slowly.

The Asian Animals Foundation (AAF) once visited the centre and stated it would 
provide the centre with VND1 billion to upgrade cages but it ran into red tape.

“They wanted to give us money, but the formalities were too complicated,” 
complained Oanh.

So big tigers, panthers and bears have to pace behind iron bars. They eat a lot 
but nobody knows when they’ll be fit to be released into the forest.
Do Minh