Eight rare animals were recently released back into the wild in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in central Quang Binh province, said the park’s management board on March 16.

The rehabilitated animals included four Asian palm civets (scientifically named Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), one stump-tailed macaque (Macaca arctoides), two keeled box turtles (Pyxidea mouhotii), and one Assam macaque (Macaca assamensis).

Director of the management board Le Thanh Tinh said they had originally been caught by local residents who were later persuaded to hand over the animals to the board.

The animals have been under the care of the park’s centre for rescue, conservation, and development before being reintroduced to their natural habitats, he added.

On this occasion, Germany’s Hoferichter and Jacobs film and television production company coordinated with local agencies to film the park’s natural values and conservation efforts.

Covering an area of 85,754 hectares, the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park was recognised as a UNESCO geological and geomorphological World Natural Heritage Site in 2003.

A large number of fauna and flora species exist within the property with 849 recorded vertebrate species, including a number of indigenous and endangered species such as tigers, Asiatic black bears, Asian elephants, giant muntjacs, Asian wild dogs, and the recently discovered Sao la deer.

The park is considered among the 238 most important ecological zones in the world.-VNA