With nearly twenty years of tireless contribution to wildlife conservation, especially the Pangolin, Mr. Nguyen Van Thai, Founder/Director of the Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (SVW), headquartered in Cuc Phuong National Park, Nho Quan District, Ninh Binh Province, was the first Vietnamese to be nominated as Vice Chair of the Pangolin Specialist Group.
Mr. Thai has special bond with and commitment to protecting the Pangolins
This was a great honor and pride, affirming the capacity of a Vietnamese organisation in rehabilitating Pangolin populations in Vietnam. At the same time, it contributed to altering the image of Vietnam’s conservation efforts in the eyes of international specialists.
Thai was born and raised in Cuc Phuong National Park, where he as a child adored mountains and forests. He became devoted to forest and wildlife protection. At a young age, he witnessed local villagers hunting and killing a mother Pangolin and her baby. This made him determined to commit himself to wildlife protection, including Pangolins.
In 2005, Thai joined the Asian Pangolin Conservation Program (APCP) at Cuc Phuong National Park as a volunteer, then a program coordinator. After successfully rescuing and rehabilitating Pangolins, at the end of 2007 he was appointed as the Operations Manager at the Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Program (CPCP). He has completed numerous animal research projects, including animals in captivity and in wild. He also co-authored a series of published papers in international academic journals.
In 2012, Thai was selected as one of 40 wildlife conservationists in Wildlife Heroes, a book published in the US in the same year. In 2016, he was honored to receive the Future for Nature Award, a prestigious international prize honoring individuals with outstanding achievements in wildlife conservation. Since 2008, the Future for Nature Award has funded €2.1 million for 41 conservationists from 29 countries around the world.
With constant efforts and passion for conservation, Thai was determined to self-study English and was awarded a fully funded scholarship by the Australian Government to further his expertise in Australia. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management and Development at the Australian National University (ANU), then progressed to a Master of Science (Environmental Science) at ANU. Previously, he was also awarded a scholarship for a course and obtained the Durrell Endangered Species Management Graduate Certificate (DESMAN) from the University of Kent and the Durrell Wildlife Conservancy, UK.
To save the endangered Pangolins, Thai began his journey by educating and raising awareness for Vietnamese people about the importance of conserving Pangolins. He documented and compiled a manual for caring and rescuing Pangolin. He published his research in prestigious journals, attended international conferences, and developed initial protocols for detecting and monitoring Pangolin recovery in Vietnam.
In particular, to better understand the chain of poaching and illegal trading, Thai interviewed and discussed with hunters to find out how Pangolins were captured, thereby tracking and preventing illegal poaching. He also visited Pangolin consumption points such as markets, restaurants, and even talked with traditional medicine doctors to better understand the demand for this animal.
Not only so, Thai established Vietnam’s first Asian Pangolin Rehabilitation Center, focusing on rehabilitation of Pangolins in captivity. To cover the caring expenses for rescued Pangolins (often in critical condition due to harsh hunting, illegal trading, and delivery), he mobilised funds from donors to set up 2 veterinary clinics, fully equipped with modern facilities for hematology and ultrasound services.
As a result, about 80% of critically injured and infected Pangolins were reportedly cured and recovered. At the same time, those clinics served as important research facilities to enhance and improve medical care for Pangolins. It was shown that 12 species of parasites in Pangolin were identified, hence, treatment plans were developed accordingly.
In 2014, at the age of 32, Thai became the Founder/ Executive Director of Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (SVW), which aims to prevent the extinction of endangered wildlife in Vietnam and enhance their rehabilitation efforts. He was also the first Vietnamese nominated as the Vice Chair of Pangolin Specialist Group, belonging to Species Survival Commission (SSC), under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In 2018, Thai collaborated with the Management Board of Pu Mat National Park, Nghe An province, to establish Vietnam’s first Forest Protection Task Force. This was a model incorporating a non-profit organisation with a state agency. His team was equipped with knowledge on wildlife conservation, animal identification, GPS usage skills, basic martial arts and survival skills.
The team collaborated with forest rangers to cover 235,000 acres (95,000 ha) of primitive forest in Pu Mat National Park. During long trips (7-10 days per trip), they demolished illegal campsites, dismantled wildlife traps, confiscated weapons, and arrested illegal hunters. As a result, between 2018-2020, poaching and trespassing at Pu Mat National Park decreased by 80%.
Being one of few people in the world working on Pangolin conservation and rehabilitation, Nguyen Van Thai significantly helped raise the awareness on protecting this critically endangered animal. He also studied global conservation strategies and worked with governing body of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to uplift 8 Pangolin species from Appendix II to Appendix I in the Convention in 2016.
Especially, SVW was the first organisation in the world to monitor the number of Pangolins being released, with the use of drone technology. This was the result of the cooperation between SVW and the Wildlife Drones Company from Australia, which was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Combat Wildlife Trafficking project.
More amazingly, SVW has recently recorded many pictures of Pangolins, especially the newborn at locations where Javan Pangolin were re-released. It was a good sign for this species in Vietnam. Expectedly, the restoration of wild Pangolin populations will be more and more successful.
Source: Bao Ninh Binh
