Ho Chi Minh City, 01 June 2011 – Wildlife At Risk (WAR) cooperates with Khan Quang Do magazine awards the 17 chosen paintings of the drawing contest entitled “Treasures of the Forest”, focusing on “conservation of the Javan Rhino and Vietnams’ endangered species”. This award ceremony that is organised at Phu Tho Sport Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City is to praise the best paintings and to raise awareness of the children and the public about endangered wildlife in Vietnam so that they are not pushed to the brink of extinction such as the Javan Rhino. This is also an event to celebrate Biodiversity Day on 22nd May and World Environment Day on 5th June.

Participated in the ceremony are about 200 people, including children, members of themed clubs – Khan Quang Do magazine, representatives of Ho Chi Minh City and District Department of Education and Trainings, conservation leaders and staff, leaders and staff of Wildlife At Risk and Khan Quang Do magazine, local people and local media.

After three months of launching from 23 March to 20 May 2011, the drawing contest had received more than 1000 paintings, mostly from children aged 11-15 years old from many provinces throughout the country. The first prize is given to the painting entitled “Humans are a friend of the Javan Rhino?” belonging to Le Tran Truc Linh- 12 year-old-girl from Ho Chi Minh City. This painting was inspired by the case of the death Rhino in Cat Tien National Park about a year ago. The author expects that humans, especially children take part in protecting the Javan Rhino and be friend with other wildlife.

During the award ceremony, a quiz show on Vietnam’s wildlife protection is also organised in order to provide the participants with knowledge and information about the beauty and the value of endangered species. WAR also takes the opportunity to call people and leaders to pay more attention to wildlife protection, and to protect wildlife by daily activities. At the end of ceremony, all participants show their commitment to wildlife protection by signing in a pledge canvas.

According to Mr. Nguyen Vu Khoi, WAR’s director: “Each individual could contribute to save the environment and wildlife. Every child that participated in this contest has also contributed to wildlife conservation. We hope that the messages of more than 1000 children in this contest will inspire the public, and the public in turn will act to help Vietnams’ wildlife.”

Mr. Nguyen Khac Cuong, Chief Editor of Khan Quang Do Magazine stated that: “Children mostly see rhinos, elephants and other endangered species in paintings films or at the zoo. However their paintings are so alive and friendly, which shows their love of Vietnams’ nature and unique environment. Their paintings convey a very important message that everyone can learn from, “if you love nature, you love your own life, and once you love your own love, you must love nature”.

From 1st to 5th June, over 50 best paintings will be also be displayed at “The Cultural Product and Services Festival 2011 – Vietculture 2011”, that was organised by Saigon Cultural Products Corporation and Tuoi Tre magazine, at Phu Tho Stadium.

In the future, WAR will organise various communication and education activities for children aged 11 to 15 years old in order to raise their awareness and motivate them towards wildlife protection.

Please download Press release here.

Ho Chi Minh City, 26th May, 2011 – Wildlife At Risk (WAR) and Khan Quang Do magazine announce that the awarding ceremony of the drawing contest titled “Treasures of the Forest” which focused on the “Conservation of the Javan Rhino and other endangered species” will be organised at 9AM on Wednesday 1st June 2011, at Phu Tho Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City.

This unique drawing contest titled “Treasures of the Forest” was conducted from 23rd March until 20th May 2011. More than 1000 paintings were sent to the contest. Many of them are very impressive and attractive highlighting Vietnams’ unique but endangered wildlife.

At the ceremony, apart from awarding the 17 best paintings, a game show on Vietnam wildlife protection will also be organised in order to raise awareness of children and the public of wildlife protection so that wildlife is not pushed to the brink of extinction such as the Javan Rhino in Vietnam.

This awarding ceremony is the first activity of the five-day festival entitled “The Cultural Product and Services Festival – Vietculture 2011”, which was organised by Saigon Cultural Products Corporation in co-operation with Tuoi Tre magazine, from 1st to 5th June at Phu Tho Stadium, 229 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, District 11, Ho Chi Minh City.

The 50 best paintings will be displayed from 1st to 5th June 2011 at the festival. You are invited to attend the awarding ceremony and the Vietculture Festival 2011. Free admission for all of visitors.

Please download the Press Release here.

Ho Chi Minh City, 23 May 2011 – Wildlife At Risk (WAR) announces the latest findings on consumption of wild animal products in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). These findings are results of a survey, which was carried out on 4000 HCMC residents and nearly 3600 secondary school students in HCMC from August 2010 to April 2011. The survey was in cooperation between WAR and the Faculty of Biology, University of Science, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City.

According to this survey, over halve of the surveyed residents who live and work in HCMC have used wild animal products, of which nearly 50% have consumed wild animal products more than three times per year. Men consume more wild animal products than women. Food accounts for the greatest percentage of wild animal products consumed in HCMC, followed in turn by wild animal drinks, health products, pets, and fashion and ornamental purpose. Restaurants in HCMC are the most common place for people to eat wild animal foods. The majority of HCMC people eat wild meat because others invite them, they want to try new experiences or they feel the meat is more delicious.  Middle-aged group (36-45 years old), government officers, and people with high education levels have a tendency to consume wild animal products more than other age groups, people with lower social working position, and people with lower education level. The consumption of wild animal products of HCMC people seems to have a tendency to increase in the future.

The survey also shows that the consumption of wild animal products of secondary school students in HCMC was strongly influenced by their parents and adults in their families. However, only 28.2% of surveyed students in HCMC have consumed wild animal products. More male students consume wild animal products than female students. Among types of wild animal product consumed by students, food accounts for the greatest percentage of wild animal products consumed among the students. Most of the survey students eat wild meat because they want to try new experiences and feel the meat is tastier. Not like the adults, students usually go to eat wild meat with their parents in specialty restaurants in other provinces or during family events such as birthdays and family gatherings at home.

Results of the survey on knowledge and attitude of HCMC residents and students reveal that all of them have good knowledge about the roles of wild animals but they do not understand well about the rarity levels of small wild animals that are mainly consumed.  They do not know clearly about wild animal trade. They think that trading of any wild species is illegal. They think that consumption of wild animal products is the most dangerous threat to wild species. In reality, wild animal product consumers are the force of illegal hunting and trading of wild animal products, helping push some wild animals to the brink of extinction. Most of residents and students could report to the correct offices when they find out illegal wild animal trade. However, most of them do not know and do not remember the correct telephone number to report crimes too. The surveyed students have a good attitude towards wild animal protection. They are also more willing to take part in wild animal protection than adults.

According to Dr. Huy Hoang Duc, Vice Deputy, Faculty of Biology, University of Science, Vietnam National University HCMC, “The survey helps us to understand the consumption of wild animal products in HCMC. This is a strong foundation to design effective conservation initiatives in order to prevent illegal wild animal trade and consumption.”

Based on results of this survey, WAR recommends that communication and education programs need to be designed and developed for both residents and students in order to prevent illegal wild animal consumption. WAR’s recommendation is also to research and introduce wild animal products from legal farming. In addition, enforcement and conservation research should be developed to contribute to wildlife protection, especially protection of threaten species.

Ms. Huyen Do Thi Thanh, Wildlife Education Manager, Wildlife At Risk confirms that: “Initiatives aims to prevent illegal wild animal trade should target the consumers because they are the force of illegal trading and hunting of wild animal products and thus pushing wild animals to the brink of extinction. Effective education programs for young generations will be a sustainable and long-term effective solution. These programmes will be a priority of WAR”

In the coming time, WAR will conduct various activities aiming to educate and encourage legal and sustainable consumption of wild animal products in order to prevent illegal wild animal consumption.

Please download the Press release here.

Ho Chi Minh City, 23rd March 2011 – Wildlife At Risk (WAR) cooperated with Khan Quang Do magazine to launch a drawing contest titled “Treasures of the Forest” for all children aged 11 to 15 years old throughout Vietnam. This contest lasted from 23 March to 20 May 2011 is organized in memory of the Rhino death at Cat Tien National Park, early May last year. 

Focusing on “Conservation of the Javan Rhino and endangered species”, the drawing contest aims to raise awareness of the children and public on the beauty and value of Vietnams’ wildlife, and call for actions to protect endangered species so that they are not pushed to the brink of extinction in Vietnam such as the Javan Rhino.

The awarding ceremony will be organised on the World Biodiversity Day (22 May 2011). The best drawing will be published on Khan Quang Do magazine and displayed at the awarding ceremony. 
(Link thể lệ cuộc thi vào hình minh hoa)
The contest regulation, and information of the Javan Rhino and some endangered species will be published on Khan Quang Do magazine right after the contest started. 

“This drawing contest is an opportunity for us all to think and show the concern to the conservation of endangered species. We must act immediately to save endangered animals from suffering the same fate as the Javan Rhino”, said Nguyen Vu Khoi, WAR Director.

This drawing contest if one activity of the programme titled “Take part in Nature Protection”, implemented by WAR and Khan Quang Do magazine since June 2010 fro children from 11 to 15 years old in the “I love Nature” and “Young Media” clubs. Previous activities include field trip to discover the forest of Cat Tien National Park, visitting Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station, releasing animals to the wild, acting as a young communicator and a young journalist, and games to learn about wildlife world. 

Please download the contest regulations here or at www.muctim.com.vn
For the full Press Release on the drawing contest, please download here.

Ho Chi Minh City, 19 April 2011 – A new dragonfly species was discovered the first time in Vietnam by the Wildlife At Risk (WAR), the Aethriamanta aethra. This species does not have an English name while it is named in Vietnamese as “Chuồn chuồn tràm”. Aethriamanta aethra was recorded during WAR’s survey in U Minh Thuong National Park in March 2011.

Previously, this dragonfly was recorded in other countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. This species has different colours depending on its age and gender. The adult male is blue purple and black while the female is yellow and black. The young female is light yellow and will turn into the blue purple when it matures. This dragon species was found in wetland habitats of U Minh Thuong National Park.

The survey and thus the discovery was conducted by Do Manh Cuong (Dragon conservation specialist of the IUCN in Vietnam) and Bui Huu Manh (Biologist from WAR), under the support of U Minh Thuong National Park.

The discovery of this species implies that more dragon species in the Southern wetland might not be discovered yet. WAR plans to conduct further surveys on the distribution of this species in the Southern wetlands, as well as a comprehensive survey on dragonfly species of U Minh Thuong National Park. Results of these surveys help conservationists to initiate appropriate strategy for wetland biodiversity conservation in general and dragonfly conservation in specific.

Ho Chi Minh City, 13 March 2011 – Twenty children aged 11 to 15 years old learnt and practice to write article about nature. These children come from the Young Media Club and I love nature Club of Khan Quang Do Magazine. This is an effort of the Wildlife At Risk (WAR) and Khan Quang Do Magazine to equip these children with journalist writing skills so that they are able to write articles, especially nature articles.

The children firstly learnt about the nature and biodiversity of Vietnam and see their important role as a young journalist in nature conservation. They then learn the writing skills through the talk of an experienced environment journalist from the Thanh Nien Newspaper. The students were so excited with the talk and got ready to practice these skills.

In the coming time, these trained young journalists will practice what they have learnt in the course by writing articles to support for the drawing contest entitled “Treasures of the forest” with a focus on “Conservation of the Javan Rhino and other endangered wildlife”. The qualified articles will be published in the Khan Quang Do magazine, together with the drawing contest.

The children are now ready to write articles about nature. They are excited to make their small contribution to the conservation of Vietnam nature through their pens. 

Phu Quoc Island, 6 March 2011 – A programme entitled “One day in the forest” was successfully developed for secondary school students to visit Phu Quoc National Park. This one-day trip is an opportunity for the students to experience the beauty of the nature and to appreciate the forest values. The trip helps the students to be aware of threats to the valuable forest of Phu Quoc and encourage them to take actions to protect the nature.

Different from traditional tours to the forest, in this programme, the students are guided and motivated to learn and enjoy the forests in a joyful way. They seeks for animal traces with a magnifier, learn about tree barks by carve it on the paper with a pencil, listen to the Park staff and find our endangered species in the forest, close the eyes and meditate to learn about the water cycle, and create model/painting to show functions of the forest by using natural materials at a spring such as stone, sand, earth, dry branches and leaves. Games and warm up activities are included to make the trip more fun and exciting. At the end of the trip, each student decorate a postcard using natural materials and bring the postcard home as a reminder of what they commit to do to protect the forest.

The trip was successfully tested with about forty students aged 12-15 years old and eight teachers from four secondary schools in Phu Quoc Island.

“This is the first time I’ve have enjoyed beautiful forest of Phu Quoc National Park. I love the nature more and will take part in protecting the nature from today”, said Do Quang Truong, 14 year-old boy from Ganh Dau Secondary School.

Development and implementation of the trip is a part of the training course entitled “Skills on nature interpretation” for Environment Education Group of Phu Quoc National Park from 2 to 7 March 2011. In the next three months, the trained environmental education staff from Phu Quoc National Park will conducted this trip for approximately 200 members of the five Green Clubs in the Park’s buffer zone. 

Phu Quoc, March 2011 – Under the cooperation among WAR, Phu Quoc National Park and Phu Quoc Department of Education and Training, five Green Clubs was set up in five secondary schools including Cua Can, Cua Duong, Bai Thom, Bai Bon, and Ganh Dau.

Green Club is a playground for secondary school students to learn and to contribute to the conservation of Phu Quoc National Park. Members of each Green Club meet twice per month from now to the end of this school semester, to learn about the nature of Phu Quoc through games and interactive activities, in an exciting atmosphere.  Members of the Green Club will also have an opportunity to enjoy the forest of Phu Quoc through a field trip.

Each Club was managed by two teachers who were trained last summer on how to set up and operate Green Clubs.

WAR is looking forward for further financial supports in order to maintain these effective Green Clubs in the coming time.

Ho Chi Minh City, from February to March, 2011-  Sixteen members of “I love nature” Club, Khan Quang Do magazine has formed three groups to initiate and conduct four environment communication projects for more than 3500 students in four secondary schools of Ho Chi Minh City. This is the opportunity for the children aged 11 to 15 years old to practice communications skills they learnt during the training last year. Each group of children is supported by one or two volunteer students who came from Ho Chi Minh City Universities.

At Ngo Quyen Secondary School, Tan Binh District, the project is to organise a quiz show entitled “Discovering the Wildlife World”. This is an opportunity for students to learn about wildlife species and how to protect these species. Students who provide correct answer received a gift. The quiz show was conducted successfully and was attended by more than 1000 students in the school.

The projects in Lac Hong Secondary school last for a month in which students from different classes take photos of the city and in school to show the nice and ugly actions of the human being toward the nature. Nineteen photo collections was sent to this contest entitled “Human and Nature – Nice and Ugly behaviours”. The best collection was then awarded in the school.

At Phu My Secondary School, Binh Thanh Dist., the contest entitled “Bin design – clean and beautiful class” was carried out to to encourage students to throw garbage in right place instead of throwing it indiscriminately. The students also decorated the dust bin and use them in their class.

At the end of the program, best students who had great contribution in each project in the three secondary schools were selected to join a study tour to Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station.

This activity is operated under the cooperation between WAR and Khan Quang Do Magazine that aims to create the generation of secondary school students who care for the environment and be able to make right decision toward environment protection and wildlife conservation.

Discover 12 new species of fresh water fishes for Vietnam

Wildlife At Risk (WAR) announces 12 new species of fresh water fish for Vietnam. These species were recorded during WAR’s surveys in Phu Quoc Island since the end of 2008. Some of these species are very common on the island.

Some species have been recorded in Vietnam previously but under different/invalid names such as Betta prima has been recorded as Betta pugnax (invalid name), Danio pulcher has been known as Brachydanio albolineatus (synonym). Some species were expected to exist in Vietnam by foreign ichthyologists, such as Trigonostigma espei and Lepidocephalichthys furcatus, now have been confirmed. A few species only have been known in Indonesia, Malaysia areas such as Barbuccacf. diabolica, now also have been recorded for Vietnam. For species with temporary identifications, there could be new species for science.
Identification work is still in the beginning phase. Modifications, additional records are anticipated.

“These findings have shown that there is a high potential for more species to be discovered in Vietnam,” said Mr. Manh Huu Bui, Senior Conservation Officer – WAR.

Quantity of many non-economic fish species are declining steadily due to habitat lost and water pollution. These species play an important role in balancing the ecosystems. The discovery of these species helps to monitor changes in the populations and based on that to implement appropriate conservation solutions. In the coming time, WAR will continue the fresh water fish programme including fish surveys, and breeding and releasing native fish to the wild.

1. Barbucca cf. diabolica

2. Pangio myersi

3. Lepidocephalichthys furcatus

4. Amblyceps cf. foratum

 

5. Betta prima

 

6. Rasbora pauciperforata – Redstripe rasbora

7. Trigonostigma espei – Lambchop rasbora

8. Belontia hasselti – Malay combtail

 

9. Nandus cf. nebulosus – Bornean leaffish

10. Danio pulcher – Pearl Danio

11. Kryptopterus macrocephalus – Striped glass catfish

12. Silurichthys schneideri