Part 6: Animal rescue profession in Pu Mat National Park

(Baonghean) -The animal rescue center in Pu Mat National Park is like a “hospital” ready to treat and care for injured animals, study their ecological characteristics and then return them to the natural environment. This job is also full of hardships.

We arrived at the Pu Mat National Park Animal Rescue Center in the middle of a hot summer day. Visitors from all over the country flocked to visit the National Park Center. Mostly they asked to enter the Animal Rescue Center to see the animals being cared for and treated. Mr. Nguyen Tat Ha, an officer of the Rescue Center, said: The Center is not only a place for scientific research but also a place where people can come to see the unique activities of each animal species. From there, the love of nature, awareness of protecting and conserving rare wild animals is awakened in each visitor. Especially, students from all over Con Cuong district this summer are sometimes brought by their parents to the Center to see the animals. Seeing the "doctors" caring for and treating the animals, the children were also touched and felt sorry for the animals, they hoped that the animals would recover soon so they could be released into the forest.

Mr. Tran Xuan Cuong with the bear he just received.

The first person who is passionate about animal rescue is Mr. Tran Xuan Cuong - Deputy Director of Pu Mat National Park. Right from the early days of its establishment, Mr. Cuong and his colleagues have saved many animals. Mr. Cuong recalls: Every year, the forest rangers and the Forest Protection Stations in the province catch cases of wildlife trafficking and bring them to the Center for care and treatment before releasing them into the forest. In 2006-2008 alone, the Center rescued hundreds of stone turtles, yellow-fronted box turtles, over 100 monkeys, 40 fire leopards, 30 bears and many rare birds... Most of the animals were injured due to trapping, hunting, and then exhausted, brought to the Center, classified and released into iron cages for treatment.

I still remember when I visited the Center in 2005, Mr. Tran Duc Linh from Hanoi had worked here for 10 years, now he transferred to work at the University of Agriculture. At that time, the Center transferred 2 new moon bears and sun bears weighing only about 2 kg, Mr. Cuong and Linh had to replace the "mother bear" to take care of them like newborn babies. Mr. Linh said: When it was cold, we had to let the bears sleep together, cover them with blankets to keep them warm, and at midnight, we mixed milk and put it in a tube for the bears to suckle. The bears were hungry so we had to feed them milk regularly 7 times a day. Every day, they followed us around like a dog raised in the house, after the "weaning" period, we had to train them to eat porridge every day. After sleeping with us for about 3 years, we put the bears in an iron cage because at that time the bears had grown up, their claws were long, and at night they growled and looked very scary. When the bears reached adulthood, Pu Mat National Park planned to return them to the wild. However, when they were released around the park, they found that these two bears could not find food to survive, so Pu Mat National Park had to bring them back to captivity.

The monkey is being rescued at the Center.

Injured bears are treated for a few months and then released into the forest, they will immediately integrate into the natural environment. Bears raised from birth are used to being kept in captivity, and if released into the forest, they will starve to death. Currently, one of these two bears has been transferred to Tam Dao National Park, the other is being kept in captivity at the Center for Scientific Research. Although raised by humans, the wild nature of these beasts still arises, and strangers joke that they still attack.

Mr. Nguyen Tat Ha - an officer of the Center confided: We also have to take care of many other animals that are very complicated, such as the yellow box turtle, whose "favorite" food is earthworms. Rain or shine, we have to go into the forest to dig for worms to "nourish" the turtle's health, and then treat their ulcers every day. For monkeys, the care is also unique, we have to understand them, like the Moc monkeys that often live at an altitude of over 1000 m, sleep in caves, eat mainly young banana leaves and fruit, and live quietly and quietly. Therefore, Moc monkeys are raised in a more secluded area surrounded by dense trees, and the Center's officers ensure that they have their favorite food.

Mr. Nguyen Tat Ha next to the refrigerator containing animal food.

Pu Mat National Park is considered the most biologically diverse place, especially with many rare animals listed in the national and international red books. However, it is not really worthy. Calling it a Wildlife Rescue Center sounds "impressive" but the "center" is just a small 2-room house, just enough to fit a table and chairs and a bed, the medical equipment must be moved to the kitchen. Currently, the Center is taking care of 1 bear, 4 porcupines, 2 monkeys, 1 civet, 34 parrot-billed turtles, yellow-fronted turtles... The equipment consists of only 1 refrigerator, 1 cooler and some medical equipment. Because the facilities are still lacking, it is very difficult to care for and treat many animals. The entire center has only 2 staff members, most of the small, narrow iron cages are wet from the rain and wind, and the medical equipment lacks equipment such as X-ray machines, ultrasound machines, etc. to diagnose and rescue animals in a timely manner. It is known that for species such as turtles, snakes, porcupines, etc., after being cared for, they can be released into the forest immediately, but for leopards, bears, monkeys, etc., they need a semi-wild environment to get used to their natural hunting reflexes. Therefore, captive bears and monkeys, when released into the forest, no longer have the ability to forage.

It is known that when caring for animals to be healthy, the work of releasing them into the forest is also very difficult. For large animals such as bears and leopards, before being released, they must be injected with anesthetic and then secretly transported into the forest. Absolutely do not let hunters detect them, because at this time, bears and leopards are injected with anesthetic and are weak, not yet able to run quickly into the forest to escape.

In the late afternoon, Mr. Ha was busy preparing dinner for his "children". He said: "It's a bit hard work, but being able to save, care for and release animals into the green forest is enough to make rescuers happy. I just hope that the Government will pay more attention to investing in infrastructure for the Rescue Center, especially building a semi-natural animal breeding area to facilitate the release of wild animals back into the natural environment.

Van Truong