HÀ TĨNH — Hương Khê District People's Court in the central province of Hà Tĩnh on Thursday sentenced six local people to a total of 66 months in prison for violating “regulations on protection of endangered, precious and rare animals”.

They were Thái Kim Hồng, 52 (who was sentenced to 15 months in prison); Phan Văn Hợi, 36 and Thái Đình Quy, 58, (12 months in prison each); Thái Văn Sáng, 42 and Thái Vinh Quang, 60; Phan Trọng Sơn, 46 (nine months suspended sentence each). All were residing in Hòa Hải Commune, of Hương Khê District.

According to the indictment, at 10am on November 17, 2018, when Phan Trọng Sơn was walking through the province’s Vũ Quang National Park, he discovered a trapped langur. He brought the langur back home to sell it to a local man, Thái Kim Hồng at a cost of VNĐ1.1 million (US$50).

Then, Hồng, Sơn and four other men (Phan Văn Hợi, Thái Đình Quy, Thái Văn Sáng and Thái Vinh Quang) killed the langur and began to eat it.

A langur is trapped by a rare animal hunter. Hunting, caging, trading, transporting or killing protected wild animals are prohibited under Vietnamese law.  — File photo

During the process of killing the rare mammal, Phan Văn Hợi filmed the clip and streamed it on Facebook. The clip was condemned by thousands of viewers.

After that, Hợi deleted the video, however the Hương Khê District police discovered the case and investigated the killers.

Police agencies prosecuted six people for "violating the regulations on management and protection of endangered, precious and rare animals according to Article 244 of the Criminal Code 2015."

Many Vietnamese people continue to kill wild animals for food. Hunting, caging, trading, transporting or killing protected wild animals are prohibited under Vietnamese law.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the diversity of animals in Việt Nam was very rich, with 175 mammal species, 826 bird species, 180 reptile species, 80 amphibian species, 471 freshwater fish species, over 2,000 marine fish species, 7,000 insect species in addition to tens of thousands of invertebrates.

The Vietnamese Government has issued legal documents on rare animal conservation and protection such as elephant, tiger, bear, reptile and small animal protection programmes. — VNS