Commercial Wildlife Farms Threaten Asian Fauna

Results of a joint study between the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Vietnam’s Forest Protection Department revealed in May that commercial wildlife farms in Vietnam are threatening Asian animal species by depleting their populations and contributing to illegal trade. The findings refute the claim that these farms lessen the burden hunting has on wildlife by breeding and raising the animals in captivity to offer legally produced meat and other products to local communities.

The study shows that farms supply luxury items to wealthy urban consumers, sometimes illegally exporting wildlife and their byproducts to China. Out of nearly 80 Vietnamese farms surveyed, at least 42 percent capture animals from the wild, and some purchase them from commercial hunters. Animals commonly found on wildlife farms include rare and threatened monkeys, bears, snakes, turtles, tigers and crocodiles.