Cuc Phuong National Park rescues two rare Owston's palm civets

The animals were illegally traded by two traffickers in Ngoc Lac district on September 21. The duo confessed that they bought the civets from hunters.

The animals were seriously injured in their legs, one of them in very bad condition. They are receiving treatment at the Cuc Phuong's Endangered Primate Rescue Centre (EPRC).

Director of the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre Nguyen Van Thai said that the park is coordinating with the centre in expanding a breeding programme aiming to preserve Owston's palm civets and release them to the nature later.

A breeding area to conserve civets will be built on an area of nearly 1 hectare in the Cuc Phuong National Park. When being put into operation, it can keep up to 50 individuals of Owston's palm civets, enabling 6-10 individuals to be released to the nature each year.

Owston's palm civet is native to Vietnam, Laos and southern China. It is listed as Endangered by IUCN because of an ongoing population decline, estimated to be more than 50% over the last three generations, inferred from over-exploitation, habitat destruction and degradation.

Translated by Nguyen Thuy