Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest level of biodiversity in the world, but many species are sharply decreasing in number, of which more than one -third of mammals are facing extinction.
Research results were cooperated by German scientists Hanna Höffner at Cologne University with Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Cologne Zoo and a number of international organizations announced in the Journal. Nature Conservation At the end of 2024.
Analysis data shows that, in the list of 329 species of mammals appearing in Vietnam, up to 112 species (about 34%) are at risk of extinction. Among them, 36 species are endemic (not existing anywhere else in the world) and 9 species classified as super -concentrated, only appearing in very small areas in the territory of Vietnam.
Sao La is one of the rare mammals in Vietnam. Image: WWF
The highest extinction species mainly belongs to the Counter of the Spirit, the predators, even clogs, rodents and bats. All primates in Vietnam are on the list of threats. Some primates like Cat Ba langur (Trachypithecus Poliocephalus) and gray -foot shank langur (Pygathrix cinerea) is in an extremely endangered state.
“Areas such as the Hoang Lien Son range in the North and the Truong Son mountain range in the Central and the South need to pay more attention to the conservation work, because this is the hiding place of many endemic species,” the research team said.
The cause of reducing the number of species mainly comes from population growth, climate change and rapid economic development. Activities such as deforestation to take cultivation soil, infrastructure development and resource exploitation increasingly increasing the pressure on natural ecosystems. In addition, the hunting and trading of illegal wildlife is also a major threat.
According to the research team, most of the endangered species are present in at least one reserve in Vietnam. However, there are two particularly vulnerable species because they do not appear in any reserve, which is the Da Lat bat nose (Murina harpioloides) and Chinese forest rabbits (Rabbit sinensis).
The team supported the “OPA)” approach of an international nature conservation alliance (IUCN) for species conservation. This is an integrated conservation strategy, combining natural protection efforts (on-site) and captivity (from the situation), controlled in zoos and conservation centers according to a joint plan. Currently, about 40% of threatened species are not in any captivity conservation program, causing their extinction to increase.
The OPA method encourages cooperation between scientists, management agencies, non -governmental organizations (NGOs), local communities and zoos to optimize species protection measures, help reduce the risk of extinction and ensure long -term existence of animal populations.
When a species is extinct, it cannot be reversed. But if we still preserve and propagate the threatened species in the zoo, we can drop them naturally when their habitat has recovered, according to the research author Thomas Ziegler, coordinating biodiversity and nature conservation projects at Cologne Zoo (Germany).