HANOI, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Three Vietnamese men have been detained for trafficking seven frozen tiger carcasses from Laos to Vietnam, local media reported on Friday.
Tiger bones are often used in Vietnam to make traditional medicines to treat bone- and joint-related ailments. Tigers are also bought for their meat, skin and claws.
The habit of using wildlife products has been pushing wild animal species to the edge of extinction, Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung, vice chairwoman of Education for Nature - Vietnam (ENV), Vietnam's first non-governmental organization focusing on nature conservation and environment protection, told Xinhua.
The last Javan rhinoceros in Vietnam was found shot with its horn removed in 2010, so the country should take urgent actions to protect tigers before it is too late, she said.
According to a report from the World Wildlife Fund in 2016, Vietnam had only five tigers in the wild, down from 30 in 2011.
To cope with the situation, Vietnam is taking various measures to diminish both supply and demand for wildlife meat and other products, including quicker prosecution of smugglers and national action plans to conserve wild animals.
