With World Rhino Day only two days away, our delegates came together at a press conference in Hanoi today to discuss and reflect on their recent ten-day trip to South Africa. As our followers know from our regular updates over the last two weeks, the delegates visited Kruger National Park to directly witness the consequences of the increasingly destructive global trade.
Mr. Nhan imparts the delegation’s experiences in South Africa to the Vietnamese audience
“At Kruger National Park, we saw a terrible scene – a rhino that had been shot dead for its horn only one week earlier,” said Vietnamese National Assembly Member Vo Tuan Nhan. “Our South African friends told us that 635 rhinos had been killed there since January, and nearly two-thirds of these were killed inside Kruger.”
Well-known actor Xuan Bac told the Vietnamese people they must stop being fooled: “There is no benefit to rhino horn. Don’t be a slave to traditional thinking.”
Vice Chief of the Hanoi Environmental Police, Mr. Nguyen Viet Tien, said enforcement to protect rhinos is top priority in Vietnam.
The press conference also featured Andrew Paterson, director of the Rhinose Foundation, our partner organization for the trip. Andrew brought the South African perspective to Vietnam, emphasizing that the rhino war must be fought on two fronts – in both countries.
For more, visit our website at www.envietnam.org and stay tuned as we bring you more updates from the event today!
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