Police in Khanh Binh Commune said on September 21 that they had received the bird and transferred it to the An Giang Provincial Forest Protection Department for care and preservation in accordance with wildlife protection regulations.
The bird was surrendered on September 17 by Nguyen Huu Khanh, a resident of Tan Khanh Hamlet in Khanh Binh Commune.
Nguyen Huu Khanh hands over the rare Burmese hawk to Khanh Binh Commune Police (Photo: Ngo Thuan).
Khanh said he decided to hand the bird over after learning through public awareness campaigns about the importance of protecting wildlife and the legal restrictions on keeping, trading or breeding rare wild animals.
“After learning more about wildlife conservation, I understood that privately keeping or trading rare forest animals violates the law, so I decided to hand the bird over to the authorities,” he said.
According to the An Giang Provincial Forest Protection Department, the Burmese hawk is classified under Group IIB in Vietnam's list of endangered, precious and rare forest animals.
The species has also been included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of threatened species since 2016.
Authorities have urged the public to notify police or forest rangers immediately if they encounter wild animals or birds that are injured, trapped or have strayed into residential areas.
Officials also reminded residents that hunting, keeping, trading, transporting or slaughtering wild animals without legal authorisation is prohibited under Vietnamese law.
