On the afternoon of July 16th, the Hue branch of forest protection took in a rare Bengal monitor lizard from a local.

Earlier, Mr. Tran Van Son (residing in No. 298 Le Duan St., Hue) found a group of men capturing a monitor lizard near the Hue Imperial Citadel on his way to work. Mr. Son then purchased the monitor lizard and handed it over to the forest protection rangers to release the animal back to its natural habitat.

Video: The rare Bengal monitor lizard weighing 5kg purchased by Mr. Son 

When handed over to the rangers, the lizard was healthy, weighing 5kg. According to the Hue branch of forest protection, it was a Bengal monitor lizard – a near threatened wild reptilian protected by Vietnam and international laws.

The Bengal monitor lizard is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and categorized in Group IB (species of forest fauna and flora threatened with extinction and banned from exploitation or use for commercial purpose) in the Decree of 06/2019/NĐ-CP.

The Hue branch of forest protection received the monitor lizard from Mr. Son

The rangers are currently taking care of the lizard and finalizing the papers to release the animal back to the wild.

Earlier, on the afternoon of July 15th, the Huong Thuy town (Thua Thien Hue province) division of forest protection also took in a Javan pangolin (Manis javanica), an animal categorized in Group IB.

The pangolin handed over to the Huong Thuy town forest protection rangers

The male pangolin weighed 3.8kg was discovered by Mr. Phan Phu Hong Tan (residing in Phu Bai ward, Huong Thuy town) by the roadside and handed over to the Phu Bai ward Police Department.

Source: Nguoi dua tin