A combination of superstition and desire to flaunt wealth has made the illegal activity of trading in eagles a lucrative business in HCM City.
Those who keep eagles as pets believe the birds will bring them luck and also underline their standing in society, the pet owners believe.
One of many endangered species listed in the Red Book, eagles are legally protected from being hunted or traded, but the profits involved are worth the risk for poaches and traders.
According to Tuoi Tre newspaper, a textile tycoon in District 6 said he has six eagles, ranging from 1.2 to 3kg in weight, and he hires several men to look after the birds.
One of his hobbies is to take the birds with him for a walk on streets so that passers-by will be amazed, he said.
"I do not keep the birds just for fun," the newspaper quoted the businessman who spoke on condition of anonymity as saying, "Actually my business has thrived ever since I had them."
Apart from bringing luck and prestige, eagles can also be trained to hunt rats and guard houses from strangers.
"It's not easy at all to raise and train them," the man said. "Each week I take them to the Gia Dinh Park to let them fly and prey on other animals."
He said the birds are put into big wooden boxes placed in the car when they are transported.
"Whenever strangers come into my house, the birds will scream and fly at them in a threatening way to scare them away," he added. An eagle seller in a small alley in Binh Thanh district's Nguyen Xi street said new born eaglets are hunted in forests of the Central Highland provinces of Dac Lac, Gia Lai and Kon Tum, the paper reported. They are then transported to the city on long-distances buses.
"They are carefully put into cardboard boxes with ventilation holes which are placed in buses' baggage compartments," he said.
"They will be picked up when the buses arrive in the city," he said, adding that there are around 15 eagle suppliers like him in the city, and that only buyers recommended by another regular customer can reach him.
Pointing to a one-week old bird, he said that it costs 1.7 million VND (90 USD). The birds are sold almost as soon as they arrive, he added.
"There's huge demand for them," the trader said. He delivers birds to buyers' homes so that his business remains unknown to the authorities, he added.
Packages of eaglets arrive every two weeks, and only a handful is transported at a time.
Nguyen Dinh Cuong, head of the city's wildlife management department, said that his department has busted many eagle trading operations.
However, he admitted that the business has become more and more secretive and sophisticated.
"Any act of trading, transporting or keeping eagles illegally will be fined or even prosecuted, and the birds will be confiscated," he said./.
Those who keep eagles as pets believe the birds will bring them luck and also underline their standing in society, the pet owners believe.
One of many endangered species listed in the Red Book, eagles are legally protected from being hunted or traded, but the profits involved are worth the risk for poaches and traders.
According to Tuoi Tre newspaper, a textile tycoon in District 6 said he has six eagles, ranging from 1.2 to 3kg in weight, and he hires several men to look after the birds.
One of his hobbies is to take the birds with him for a walk on streets so that passers-by will be amazed, he said.
"I do not keep the birds just for fun," the newspaper quoted the businessman who spoke on condition of anonymity as saying, "Actually my business has thrived ever since I had them."
Apart from bringing luck and prestige, eagles can also be trained to hunt rats and guard houses from strangers.
"It's not easy at all to raise and train them," the man said. "Each week I take them to the Gia Dinh Park to let them fly and prey on other animals."
He said the birds are put into big wooden boxes placed in the car when they are transported.
"Whenever strangers come into my house, the birds will scream and fly at them in a threatening way to scare them away," he added. An eagle seller in a small alley in Binh Thanh district's Nguyen Xi street said new born eaglets are hunted in forests of the Central Highland provinces of Dac Lac, Gia Lai and Kon Tum, the paper reported. They are then transported to the city on long-distances buses.
"They are carefully put into cardboard boxes with ventilation holes which are placed in buses' baggage compartments," he said.
"They will be picked up when the buses arrive in the city," he said, adding that there are around 15 eagle suppliers like him in the city, and that only buyers recommended by another regular customer can reach him.
Pointing to a one-week old bird, he said that it costs 1.7 million VND (90 USD). The birds are sold almost as soon as they arrive, he added.
"There's huge demand for them," the trader said. He delivers birds to buyers' homes so that his business remains unknown to the authorities, he added.
Packages of eaglets arrive every two weeks, and only a handful is transported at a time.
Nguyen Dinh Cuong, head of the city's wildlife management department, said that his department has busted many eagle trading operations.
However, he admitted that the business has become more and more secretive and sophisticated.
"Any act of trading, transporting or keeping eagles illegally will be fined or even prosecuted, and the birds will be confiscated," he said./.
