Are some of South Africa’s wildlife breeders selling rhinos and tigers to questionable facilities?
One such facility is the Bao Son Paradise Theme Park in Hanoi, Vietnam, where two Asian elephants are imprisoned by short chains — an indication that perhaps the animal husbandry practices are substandard.
During a wildlife trade monitoring visit to this zoo in November 2012, four white rhinos were seen, along with two tigers and two white tigers, several hyenas, two cheetahs, giraffes, zebras, various monkeys and tropical birds.
Concrete is underfoot in most of the rhino pen, where a closed circuit camera watches overhead.
Two tigers — apparently imported from wildlife breeders in South Africa — pace back and forth in a small enclosure.
According to South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs, at least two wildlife breeding facilities supplied tigers and rhinos to Vietnam.
Earlier this year, the Department published the names of the tiger exporters (download the list) and rhino exporters (download the list) on its website. (Update 07/10/2013: The documents have been removed from the DEA website.)
Although CITES allows the export of live animals “to appropriate and acceptable destinations”, this situation suggests that the wildlife breeders in South Africa who chose to sell their animals to a Vietnamese zoo also chose not to conduct any due diligence prior to the transactions.
Rhishja Cota
I am the founder of Annamiticus and I have been researching and writing about wildlife trafficking issues since 2009. I also founded World Pangolin Day in 2012. I am the author of USAID Wildlife Asia's Pangolin Species Identification Guide: A Rapid Assessment Tool for Field and Desk. I co-facilitated and was a presenter at the USAID Wildlife Asia Pangolin Care Workshop. At the 4th Regional Dialogue on Combating Trafficking of Wild Fauna and Flora, I facilitated the species roundtables on pangolins. I have trekked with forest rangers in Cambodia, journeyed to the streets of Hanoi to research the illegal wildlife trade, and to the rainforests of Sumatra and Java to document the world’s rarest rhinos. At CITES meetings, I collaborate with colleagues from around the world to lobby in favor of protecting endangered species. I hosted the Behind the Schemes podcast and am the author of the book Murder, Myths & Medicine. I enjoy music, desert gardening, herping, reading, creating, and walking with my dogs. Check out my t-shirts and stickers at snoots + teefers.