Rangers critically injured by poachers

On early Thursday morning, a ranger team was inspecting Cat Tien National Park, which lies 160 kilometers northeast of Ho Chi Minh City. When reaching the park’s area in Dac Lua Commune, Tan Phu District, they detected eight poachers illegally trying to catch wild animals.

When they were approached, the poachers resisted and attacked the rangers with homemade guns, knives, sticks, and pepper spray.

As a result, three rangers were seriously wounded, but are now in stable condition.

With help from local police, all eight poachers were arrested on Thursday afternoon.

The rangers and police seized one boar, one deer, seven chevrotains, and one ferret from the poachers. All of the animals had been killed.

Cat Tien is a national park located in the three provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc and Lam Dong. It has an area of about 71,000 hectares, including 40,000 hectares in Dong Nai.

The park is home to a number of endangered primates, including red-faced monkeys, pig-tailed monkeys, black-shanked douc langur, yellow-cheeked gibbons and lorises. All of these species are listed in the World Red Book as endangered.