#Run4WildlifeHN held to raise awareness on issue of traditional medicine made from wildlife. (Photo: Organisers)
Sporting Republic partnered with Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV), the country’s first non-governmental organisation focusing on wildlife conservation, to organise the event.
This was part of a campaign aiming to raise public awareness on the problem of traditional medicines made from wildlife in Vietnam, with the support of the US Department of State and the Humane Society International of Australia.
ENV Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung note that each day, thousands of rare, endangered wild animals are poached and traded to meet the demand for traditional medicines made from wildlife.
David Shin, from Sporting Republic, stressed that it is the responsibility of each individual to join efforts in dealing with the problem of traditional medicines made from wildlife.
Earlier, ENV released a film highlighting health risks from dining out at restaurants that sell wildlife meat, and calling on the community not to support such restaurants, thus reducing the risk of extinction among rare animals and protecting the ecosystem.
The film tells a story about a family that are enjoying their favourite pork dish without knowing that their chef has just slaughtered a civet, and the continuous preparation of dishes that include wildlife without ensuring hygienic procedures may cause pathogens from the civet to spread to the dish that they ordered.
In Vietnam, many wild animals have been illegally consumed at restaurants, which has not only negatively impacted the natural population of wildlife species, but also increased the risk of transmitting wildlife-origin pathogens to customers. In fact, about 70 percent of the dangerous infectious diseases over the past 30 years have originated from animals, mainly wild animals.
