The hospital for rare animals
Thousands of rare animals have been rescued, raised
and released back to nature by the Cu Chi Center for Wildlife Rescue.
The Center, located in An Nhon Tay Commune, Cu Chi District, HCM City was
established in 2006 by the HCM City Department of Forest Management and funded
by the Wildlife At Risk (WAR - a non-governmental organization).
The doomed
A seriously-injured Malayan bear is treated by rescue
workers at the Center.
All animals seized from illegal trade cases in the southern region are
brought to the Cu Chi Center for Wildlife Rescue. At present, the center is
taking care of over 30 species of animals with a total of 116 individuals, all
of which are on the list of endangered species.
Take us to visit the center, Mr. Le Xuan Lam, WAR representative, pointed a
Malayan bear in the semi-wild area and said: "This is a special case of the
successful rescue. A resident in Binh Duong Province raised five Tibetan bears
to collect bear galls. After a time in cage, one bear lost a leg and another
bear was blind in one eye. This resident gave the disabled bears to the center.
The two bears were rescued but they are not released to the forests because
they will not be able to seek food or will be killed by other species.
"The two bears are now kept at the center for the purpose of preservation and
education," Lam said.
Earlier, Ms. Tran Thi Anh Nguyet, from Cu Chi District, HCM City handed over
a Malayan bear to the Center. She bred this bear from 1999 but so far it is only
25 kg. When the bear was transferred to the center, its lower jaw and the front
legs were necrosis and it was blind.
"We had to guard and take care of the bear for a long time, day and night,
even not sleeping to sustain the life for it," said Aly, a rescue worker.
Most of the animals were taken to the center in critical conditions. In many
cases they died on the way to the center due to they were locked up for a long
time or be trapped and injured.
Recently, a household in HCM City gave the center a golden-cheeked gibbon
which was in a state of exhaustion due to a long captivity. "Now, the
golden-cheeked gibbon has returned to normal. It is very energetic and eager to
run and jump and particularly it is no longer scared as before," a member of the
rescue team said.
Arduous practice of survival instincts
Volunteers at the Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Center.
The Cu Chi Center for Wildlife Rescue is considered a hospital for wild
animals with all “wards."
When they first come to the center the wild animals are kept in isolation,
and then they are examined and transferred to suitable wards. In many cases,
they need “emergency" and surgery to be survival.
Once HCM City’s rangers confiscated several porcupines from wildlife
traffickers and handed over them to the Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Center. One of
the porcupines had a leg of necrosis. The animal was transferred to the
“emergency ward” where doctors cut off the part of necrosis to save the
porcupine.
The center is now the home to dozens of other animals that lost legs and are
blind due to being captured and overexploited by human.
Not only saving the lives of endangered animals, veterinarians at the centers
help the animals practice their survival instincts at the semi-wild area in the
center.
"If only saving their lives but not training them how to re-integrate into
the wild, it is a failure. So, in addition to rescue and breed them, the most
important task is to help them get familiar to the wild life so that when they
are released into the wild they will still survive," said Aly.
According to rescue workers, the animals are brought here from different
areas but they have the same fate. They all experienced days of being abuse,
exploited and traded. Each animal is a fate, a tragic story.
A black bear, after a long time in captivity for gall exploitation, had one
foot cut off by its owner to soak in alcohol. Other animals had their tales and
hair cut before being handed over to the rescue center.
Normally, when they were rescued, they were very afraid of human. It took a
long time for them to become friendlier to human.
In late 2009, the Center received a Malayan bear in critical condition due to
anorexia. The rescue team had to eat and sleep with the bear to rescue it. "It
took nearly one year for the bear to become normal. It was extremely difficult!"
recalled Lam.
All members of the rescue team have the same thing: a special love for
animals. They are always ready for trips at any time, even at mid-night to
rescue them.
Source: NLD
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