There has been a marked increase in sparrow hunting in the Mekong Delta region after rumours spread that the bird meat increases vitality and can cure some sicknesses.
Recently, sparrow has become a favourite dish in the Mekong Delta because of popular beliefs about its health benefits, giving rise to more and more bird hunters.
An experienced hunter said there was no need to go deep into the forest to catch birds. They only need to lay traps along highways, residential areas, schools and especially orchards to take home a large catch. Hunters normally use bamboo sticks coated with glue, which they place in trees along with a recording of bird sounds to attract the real thing. He said that different sounds will attract different birds. "Normally, a recorded distress call from one type of bird will attract other birds of the same type," he said.
Some trappers will use real caged birds to attract their prey. An average hunter can collect between 100 and 200 birds a day. Some hunters in Can Tho City can reach numbers as high as 300 to 500.
Sparrows are not the only species that are sought after. Several kinds of birds, such as the flowerpecker and olive-winged bulbul are also trapped. But the sparrow and olive-winged bulbul fetch the highest prices, going for around VND4,000-8,000 per bird, so a hunter who catches 200 sparrows might make around VND1 million (USD47) a day. Some people in Hau Giang Province use large nets instead of traps, also earning in the millions of VND per day.
Because of the easy money, more and more people are using mass trapping methods that have a chance of driving some species into endangerment or even extinction.
Painting glue on sticks
Recorded bird sounds attract sparrows
Placing the sticks in trees
Trapped birds
Sparrows killed for meat
