Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. New wildlife farming census data was released today at a Wildlife Farms Survey Dissemination Workshop. The workshop shared information on the extent and types of wildlife farmed in southern Viet Nam Provinces through a baseline census. This research is a milestone for Viet Nam as it offers a starting point to bring further commitment and attention to making wildlife farming safer in Viet Nam. The workshop was organized by the Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Viet Nam and the Viet Nam Administration of Forestry (VNForest) within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). The census research was financed by the USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) Program and implemented with EPT partner PREVENT.

“As most human diseases are originated from animals, especially from wildlife animals, building an organized wildlife farm management system, starting from our consensus survey, will contribute to establishing disease-free wildlife farms in Viet Nam and provide safe food to our tables” stated Dr. Scott Newman, Senior Technical Coordinator of FAO ECTAD Viet Nam.
The census found that approximately 1,218,000 animals are being farmed consisting of 185 wildlife species within 12 pilot provinces. The most common types of farms were for rearing porcupines, oriental rat-snake and deer while the highest in overall numbers of individuals were crocodile and softshell turtle. Civet, primate, and wild boar farms, which pose a higher risk for transmitting potential zoonotic diseases to people, were also documented while attention to food safety issues were also noted as many farmed wildlife are raised for consumption. The census included results from 4,099 operational wildlife farms and  1,907 wildlife farms that recently stopped rearing animals from 12 pilot Provinces including Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Ben Tre, Binh Duong, BinhPhuoc, BinhThuan, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Lam Dong, Long An, Tay Ninh, Tien Giang and Ho Chi Minh City.

“Updated farmed wildlife distribution maps derived from this census will help management authorities understand, quantify, and qualify the wildlife farming systems in the 12 pilot provinces. This in turn will help to strengthen the management of wildlife farms and provides important insights into aspects of animal husbandry, biosecurity, production practices, food safety, and health issues that could be addressed by authorities in the future” stated Mr. Do Quang Tung, the Viet Nam CITES Management Authority of VN Forest.

Ultimately, strengthening wildlife farm biosecurity production practices, health inspections for animals, and establishing a centralized national wildlife farm database would improve management of wildlife farms, support safer wild meat production, and also prevent disease transmission among farmed wildlife, and potentially to free ranging wildlife, livestock and people.
“We are glad to support development programs in Viet Nam that build safer environmentsfor both humans and animals by improving the wildlife farm management system,” said USAID Vietnam Mission Director, Joakim Parker“.  USAID will continue to support zoonotic disease prevention through our new EPT2 project.”

Factsheet) Southern Viet Nam’s wildlife farm survey report in a glance

Infographic) Effective wildlife farm management in Viet Nam 

For more information, please contact:

Viet Nam Administration of Forestry (VNForest), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Mr. Do Quang Tung
Viet Nam CITES Management Authority
Tel: 84 4 3733 5676
E-mail: [email protected]

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Ms. Ki Jung Min
Communication Officer
Tel: 84-4- 3942.4208 (Ext 44)
Email: [email protected]