Global Conservation Force & Save Vietnams Wildlife partner to save pangolin!
Global Conservation Force has partnered with Save Vietnam’s Wildlife in developing a set of trading cards featuring the endangered and threatened wildlife of Cuc Phuong National Park in Vietnam. The set of 8 cards highlights animals that are experiencing high levels of poaching, trafficking, and habitat loss while giving conservation facts about each animal. Education is key to stopping demand and decreasing local demand for wildlife products – by engaging the community through children’s education programs, SVW has been able to inspire a love and appreciation for nature and the wildlife that call their backyard their home.
GCF Pangolin Coordinator, Lauren Ayres-Martinez, spent months developing the cards and was able to participate in 2 education programs this past week at SVW, distributing the cards to over 50 children and providing the education team with cards for up to 2,000 more kids! More updates to come on the progress of this program!
Save Vietnam’s Wildlife focuses on the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of Sunda pangolin in Vietnam. Just this week, 6 pangolins that had been previously rescued and successfully rehabilitated were able to be released back to the wild.
Global Conservation Force was fortunate enough to see the process of the release efforts this week and are excited to continue our partnership with SVW in hopes of combatting wildlife trafficking and providing protection for these animals released to their native habitats.
Save Vietnam’s Wildlife is taking on yet-another endeavor to combat wildlife trafficking by hiring a team of their own anti-poaching rangers to deploy into Pu Mat National Park in Central Vietnam.
GCF is excited to share our knowledge and experience working with many different Anti-poaching units across the globe to assist SVW in providing the very best training and gear for their new rangers. Stay tuned for more updates on SVW’s new ranger team & GCF’s future involvement in this project.
During Global Conservation Force’s initial deployment to Vietnam to assist our new formal conservation partner organization, Save Vietnam’s Wildlife, the team was able to assist with the care of the short and long-term residents of the facility. GCF team member/pangolin coordinator, Lauren Ayres Martinez, spent time participating in the daily husbandry of these animals. Husbandry is the technical term for the day-to-day care of animals including feeding, habitat cleaning, and veterinary needs. Although the work is not often glamorous, it is very rewarding and nothing is better than seeing a rescued animal snuggling down into a fresh bed of fleece blankets (shout-out to our awesome followers who donated fleece for this deployment!).
A final piece of the GCF deployment to Vietnam was the implementation of an enrichment workshop for the Save Vietnam’s Wildlife keepers and animal care volunteers.
 Enrichment is the broad term used to describe the use of environmental or behavioral items/ideas given to animals under human care to provide them with exercises for both their mental and physical health. Items such as puzzle feeders give the animal a challenge to overcome in order to reach their food, this keeps their minds active and stimulated.
The majority of Save Vietnam’s Wildlife’s animal residents only stay for a short time until they are fully rehabilitated and able to be survive on their own in the wild, when they are then released to their natural habitats. However, some animals are unable to survive on their own due to debilitating injuries or lack of survival skills – these animals become the ambassadors of their kind while they have a life-time home at Save Vietnam’s Wildlife.