QUẢNG BÌNH — Bison have been snapped by camera traps set up by the Việt Nature Conservation organization in the central province of Quảng Bình.

Organisation director Lê Trọng Trãi said the images were captured in the province’s Lệ Thủy District.

Local residents in Kim Thủy Commune in the district reported seeing a group of three bison grazing near the Bang stream. Witnesses said there were two mature animals and a calf. The mature ones are nearly double the size of a cow.

Conservationists in Quảng Trị Province’s Bắc Hướng Hóa Nature Reserve, near the Quảng Bình commune, reported finding bison footprints in the area.

They also said the footprints belonged to three bison.

The area, including Bang stream and adjacent Nước Trong stream in Quảng Bình, is said to be rich in biodiversity. Rare animals, including the Trường Sơn muntjac and Vietnamese pheasant, have also been found there.

The bison species, listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is endemic to India and Southeast Asia. A mature bison can weigh more than a tonne.

In related news, pelicans with GPS devices attached to their feather have been found in the provinces of Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên-Huế.

Rangers in Triệu Phong District in Quảng Trị on Tuesday reported they are taking care of a 9-kg pelican handed over by local fishermen. The fishermen caught the bird while fishing at sea.

The pelican will be released after the rehabilitation process.

Earlier last week, the department of environmental protection in Thừa Thiên-Huế released two brown pelicans that they rehabilitated beforehand into the wild. The pelicans were caught by local farmers when the birds, which had GPS devices, were wandering around local paddy fields. — VNS