Wild Trade Vietnam

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THUMBNAIL	DESCRIPTION
	This female rhesus macaque Macaca mulatta was was photographed in within a forest reserve in Kontum. Location: Kontum Province Date: January, 1997 Credit: Vu Ngoc Thanh
	This is an infant snub-nosed langur Rhinopithecus avunculus, one of the rarest primates in Asia. Perhaps less than 300 of this species are known and they are being hunted for food at a rate that will not maintain populations. The animal, a young female named Xuan, was confiscated in early 1992 in the Na Hang forest (which has since become a reserve). The next photo shows Mr Radoslaw Ratajszczak (of Poznan Zoo, Poland) feeding the young animal. Location: Na Hang, Tuyen Quang Province Date: February, 1992 Credit: Dr Pham Nhat
	Xuan remained healthy for a few weeks. The Institute for Ecology and Biological Resources spent some effort to bring her to Hanoi. but she eventually died, bitten by a rat while in Hanoi Zoo. Here are her preserved ramains at IEBR. Hanoi Zoo now has improved resources but nursing young snub-nosed langurs continues to be a problem. Another young animal, though cared for meticulously in 1994, developed a nutritional disorder and also died. All Rhinopithecus species are listed in Appendix I of the CITES convention, among the most highly endangerd species known. They are also liste in the 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. Location: Institute for Ecology and Biological Resources, Hanoi Date: December, 1992 Credit: Vern Weitzel
	More photos of Xuan, the young snub-nosed langur, provided through the courtesy of Dr Ha Dinh Duc.
	This is the black langur, Trachypithecus francoisi francoisi (also called Francois' langur). This animal was photographed in a market near Na Hang in northern Vietnam. Black langurs live in the same forests in Vietnam as snub-nosed langurs, though the range of the black langur extends into southern China. Black langurs are often found in association with steep karst (limestone) formations common to Southern China and Northern Vietnam - but their ecology is still unknown. Location: Na Hang, Tuyen Quang Province Date: 1992 Credit: Dr Pham Nhat
	This photo from Rick Smolan's excellent book and CD-ROM "Passage to Vietnam" shows stump-tailed macaques Macaca arctoides on sale at Dong Xuan market in central Hanoi. Trading in wild-caught stump-tailed macaques is not allowed under Vietnamese law. Stump-tailed macaques are listed in Vietnam's Red Book of Engangered Animals. Location: Dong Xuan Market, Hanoi Date: 1995 Credit: Denise Rocco
	A young gibbon offered for sale in north central Vietnam. This is a specimen of Hylobates concolor siki. Gibbons are exceedingly rare in Vietnam now. All species of gibbons are listed on CITES Appendix I. Concolor gibbons are listed as endangered in the 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. Location: Con Cuong District, Nghe An Province Date: 16 December 1992 Credit: Dr Pham Nhat
Quicktime movies are from CNN and AP through te kindness of Dr Ha Dinh Duc	The Lake of the Returned Sword Ho Hoan Kiem (or Ho Guom), is a central feature in Hanoi. In legend, Emperor Le Loi returned to this lake the sword he used to defeat Chinese invaders. The lake also holds a remarkable giant soft-shelled turtle Pelochelys cantoris. This species may have a shell two meters in length. A mounted specimen this size is in Ngoc Son Temple, one of two temples on islands in the middle of the lake. In 1992, Hanoi City Government decided to drain and dredge this lake, since it was becoming increasingly polluted and filled with refuse. However, while cleaning the lake could improve this habitat in the long term, the dredging process and plans to capture turtles could have very bad short-term consequences for Ho Guom turtles. Dr Ha Dinh Duc led a campaign to reconsider this large-scale lake dredging, getting many leading biologists to sign a petition of support. Dredging was finally halted, but not without ill-feeling. One institute which had been contracted to capture the turtles lost a substantial sum of money. In reality, though, perhaps difficult conservation issues such as this produce difficult environmental trade-offs. At left is a rare photo of a Ho Guom turtle. Location: Ho Hoan Kiem (Ho Guom), central Hanoi Date: 1995 Credit: Dr Ha Dinh Duc In April 1998 video footage taken by a tourist were released by news services showing this rare turtle surfacing on the Lake. The photos show the unusually truncated beak of some turtles in this lake. You may view the 13 second 1.4 mb high resolution or 395 kb low resolution movies.

Prepared by Vern Weitzel <vern@coombs.anu.edu.au>
Australia Vietnam Science-Technology Link