Illegal hunter convicted for killing endangered langur

May 17, 2017 - 11:00

The central city’s People’s Court decided to imprison illegal hunter Nguyễn Văn Lý three years in prison for killing two Red-Shanked Doucs (Pygathryx nemaeus) in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve at a hearing an appeal on Monday.

A family of the Red-Shanked Doucs (Pygathryx nemaeus) is snapped at the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve in Đà Nẵng city. The central city’s People’s Court decided to imprison illegal hunter Nguyễn Văn Lý three years in prison for killing the endangered langurs. — VNS Photo Bùi Văn Tuấn
Viet Nam News

ĐÀ NẴNG — The central city’s People’s Court rejected poacher Nguyễn Văn Lý’s appeal of a three-year conviction at a hearing on Monday.

Lý was sentenced by Sơn Trà district people’s court last year for killing two Red-Shanked Doucs in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve.

The court said Lý had violated regulations on hunting and killing endangered species under the list of protected animals of the Governmental Decree No 32.

Lý, 29, along with his wife, his father and two other accomplices, hunted illegally in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve in Đà Nẵng for one month in 2015.

The group killed five wild animals, including two endangered Red-Shanked Doucs (Pygathryx nemaeus) – a kind of langur that was declared endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2013, and the Red Book of Việt Nam.

Rangers from the Sơn Trà-Ngũ Hành Sơn’s Forest Protection Department caught them with 100 traps and 3.11kg of dried meat, bone, skin and fur of the wild animal at their shelters in forest.

The meat and bones were identified at the Việt Nam Science Academy as having belonged to a Red-Shanked Doucs.

At the first trial, the Sơn Trà district’s court on July 13, 2016, fined poarcher Vi Văn Sơn to three years in prison, and Vi Văn Hoàng to two-year and six months.

The district’s court then gave Lý three years for killing the endangered langurs, and his father Nguyễn Văn Hội a two-year imprisonment.

Lý’s wife, Lê Thị Lan was given two years, but she then was given a suspension.

Lý then appealed for a reduction of the sentence.

The Sơn Trà Nature Reserve in Đà Nẵng, known for its rich biodiversity, is home to 300 Red-Shanked Doucs.

However, poaching, logging and the construction of houses and villas have caused an alarming drop in the population over the past decade.

In 2015, an area of 11ha forest in the Nature Reserve was destroyed by illegal loggers for building a tourism site.

More than 2,000 traps have been dismantled by rangers and volunteers.

About 20 restaurants, 68 houses and villas have been built in the reserve. — VNS

 

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