'Temporary shelter' for wild animals

(Baonghean) - All day long, "making friends" with wild animals, rescuing, caring for them and waiting for the day to release them back into the green forest is the job of the staff of the Wildlife Rescue Center of Pu Mat National Park. This is truly a dangerous job, with a high risk of accidents and injuries, but above all, the love for animals and the love for the forest has helped them stick with and be passionate about their work.

In the middle of summer, the land and sky of Con Cuong are as hot as a furnace, the Lam River has many exposed sections, and all animals are looking for shelter to avoid the scorching sun. The sun is at its zenith, after lunch, Mr. Phan Huu Huan took the opportunity to bathe two wild pigs locked in the pen. The two pigs were lying there panting, as if waking up, they stood up to welcome the cool stream of water, then quickly circled around the pen...

Mr. Phan Huu Huan and a monitor lizard.

Pausing his work, Mr. Huan shared: “Pigs are animals that cannot tolerate heat, so in addition to increasing their food sources and ensuring nutrition, we must bathe them regularly to prevent dehydration leading to exhaustion.” After bathing the wild boars, Mr. Huan went to the monkey cage, the bear cage, and the turtle cage to check. Only after finishing all that work, Mr. Huan could rest peacefully at noon...

The Wildlife Rescue Center of Pu Mat National Park is a "temporary shelter" for animals confiscated from hunting and trading in wildlife throughout the province to be treated and cared for before being released into the wild. The center owns 1.5 hectares of forest and a system of cages including 5 large cages to ensure temporary rescue for the following species: carnivores, primates, porcupines, pangolins, etc.; 1 cage for rescuing ungulates; 2 rescue areas for tortoises and turtles; 6 iron cages for rescuing cats, civets, etc. At the same time, it ensures the minimum conditions of equipment to perform rescue tasks well, such as veterinary tools, feeding and care tools, refrigerators for storing medicine, and has a management record to monitor daily rescue work.

Mr. Huan led us around the barns to visit, in addition to the 4 wild boars that had just bathed, there were also 6 monkeys, 2 bears, 5 monitor lizards, 11 turtles, and 1 white-cheeked gibbon. These wild animals were all confiscated by the authorities and handed over to the Center recently. After receiving them, these animals were brought into captivity, and were cared for by the Center's staff, treated for injuries, and gradually domesticated. When they recovered their health and were able to survive in the wild, they were released into the core zone of Pu Mat National Park.

The Rescue Center has 3 staff members, including Mr. Phan Huu Huan, Mr. Nguyen Tat Ha and Thai Van Trung. All 3 brothers live in the lowlands and only have the opportunity to visit their families every few weeks or a month. Having graduated from veterinary school, the 3 people came here to contact work and were assigned the task of rescuing and caring for wild animals confiscated during hunting and trading cases.

Taking care of 2 monkeys raised at the Wildlife Rescue Center (Pu Mat National Park, Con Cuong).

Their daily work is to prepare food, care for and treat wounds (if any) for individual animals and organize sanitation and handling of the cages. At first glance, it may not seem too difficult, but when you start working, you will see that it is not simple at all. Because the food of wild animals is often different, some are omnivorous, but some are quite picky eaters, finding and ordering food for the animals being kept at the center every day is not easy. In addition, each individual has its own eating preferences, forcing the staff to have a clear understanding of their eating habits.

For example, the pair in the right cage like to eat tubers such as squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, cassava and banana; while the pair in the left cage like to eat vegetables such as sweet potato leaves, water spinach and corn. Therefore, even though they are the same species, the care and food sources are different, requiring the caretaker to be more diligent. Or with the 5 monitor lizards being cared for, Mr. Huan can clearly understand the characteristics of each one in terms of their favorite food as well as their hiding places.

Finding food sources is not too difficult, just need to spend more time and effort, more importantly are the risks and dangers that can be encountered when coming into contact with wild animals. With survival instincts, they are ready to attack all objects that they consider to be dangerous. In particular, wild animals that are captured by humans and have their bodies injured often become extremely aggressive, when they see human figures appear, they are always alert and ready to attack. Even the pair of wild boars in the first days of being brought to the cage, every time Mr. Phan Huu Huan brought out food, they "growled" as if they wanted to jump up and bite.

One time, while he was cleaning and washing the pen, a pig rushed at his feet at full speed. Luckily, he was able to judge the situation in time and jumped up to grab the mesh used to separate the compartments. If he had not been quick, that day his calf or knee would have been “stuck” with the wild boar’s teeth.

Or another time, Mr. Nguyen Tat Ha approached a monkey that had just had a leg cut off by a trap set by local people. When the monkey saw people coming, it immediately rushed forward and scratched its hands and face to relieve its pain and anger. With other ferocious animals such as tigers, bears, crocodiles, etc., employees must always be alert, cautious and keep the right distance, otherwise it is very easy to have an “occupational accident”.

Most of the trapped animals were injured to varying degrees, and Mr. Huan and his colleagues found solutions to treat and care for them. For normal injuries, it was not too difficult, but for severe injuries, they had to use anesthesia for surgery.

The most difficult part is when approaching to control and anesthetize them, they are in pain and struggle miserably. When they wake up, exhausted, those poor animals are "coaxed" to eat by the rescuers to quickly recover. Gradually, realizing the care and concern, they begin to look at the rescuers with friendly eyes, seemingly feeling that they are benefactors, even timid animals like monitor lizards.

“I can only go home to my children every few weeks, and as soon as I get home I have to help my wife with some work and then I have to think about going back to work,” said Nguyen Tat Ha. After several years working as a rescue worker, Ha realized that wild animals can feel his concern and care and respond with friendliness, reducing their aggressive instincts somewhat.

Wildlife rescuers care for two wild boars.

Gradually, he had to go somewhere for a few days, when he returned he immediately ran to the cages to check, the animals also jumped up and cried out, expressing joy. He always remembered the monkey that fell into the trap and had its leg severed, it was scratched all over its body but he still persevered to tame it. After a few months, he and the monkey became almost friends, sometimes late at night, he stood next to the monkey cage as if to chat to ease his longing for his family. Then came the day the monkey recovered its health, the leaders of Pu Mat National Park decided to release it back into the green forest.

Mr. Ha and a few others took it to the core area. When it stepped out of the cage, the monkey stood there staring at him. Everyone turned back, and it followed for a while, then climbed a tall tree to watch and howl as if to say thank you and goodbye. After returning, for several weeks, Mr. Ha could not help but feel sad every time he passed the empty cage where the legless monkey was kept...

Witnessing the daily work of wildlife rescuers, one cannot help but admire their silent, silent but extremely useful work. Thanks to them, many wild animals that have been hunted and traded are cared for and returned to the natural environment, contributing to the balance of the ecological environment...

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