Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest biodiversity density in the world, but is also a hotspot for wildlife trafficking and consumption. Every year, hundreds of thousands of wildlife are captured, caged and consumed, causing many consequences for Vietnam's ecological diversity as well as potential risks of infectious diseases between animals and humans.

Wildlife species are often traded as pets, ingredients for traditional medicine, souvenirs, for meat, etc. and can come from being hunted directly from the wild, or from illegal farms. According to information from TRAFFIC (2020), more than ONE MILLION wildlife individuals have been illegally traded in Vietnam in the past decade.

In contrast to the huge number of illegally captured and traded wildlife, the number of rescue centers that can receive and rescue these animals is extremely small, with many limitations in terms of facilities, technical capacity and budget. Without qualified rescue centers, authorities such as the Police and Forest Rangers are always "stuck" when carrying out the work of destroying, confiscating and handling live wildlife.

Many wildlife individuals when handed over to rescue centers are often in a state of injury, exhaustion, psychological trauma, loss of natural instincts or die before being released.

To minimize the risk of animals being injured during rescue operations, as well as to support law enforcement agencies effectively, the Wildlife Rescue and Release Program of CCD Vietnam has been directly supporting State-owned rescue centers in the technical steps of rescuing and releasing received wildlife by providing full-time support at important rescue centers in Vietnam such as the Hanoi Wildlife Rescue Center (rescuing 1,200 individuals/year), the Rescue Center of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park (rescuing 500 individuals/year).

With domestic and foreign experts with more than 10 years of experience in rescuing and caring for multi-species wildlife, we provide free rescue cage designs, care regimens, breeding regimens for conservation purposes and release methods suitable for each species and each individual.

We believe that effective animal rescue and release is the most direct way to support law enforcement agencies in protecting wildlife (seizing and punishing), aiming to end illegal wildlife trafficking and consumption in Vietnam.

SEE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES BELOW