VIETNAM’S ‘RAT KING’ HAULS RATS FOR MONEY. FOOD?
HANOI, Vietnam — Rice is an essential part of the Vietnamese economy. The
communist country is the world’s second largest exporter of the staple grain.“We used to have to accept the loss of large chunks of our paddies, the rats destroyed it. It made us wonder why we bothered working so hard,” explains 46-year-old farmer Hoang Thi Tuyet...Rodents can be a determined enemy.
“It’s hard to trap them, they’re clever, they move fast and in Vietnam there are 43 different species of rat to contend with,” Thieu says.
But in 1998, Thieu had a breakthrough — he invented a new
kind of rat trap, more effective than anything farmers had previously tried,
that worked without bait and relied on extremely strong springs. Thieu estimates his traps — and his unique rat hunting methods — have since killed millions of rats.At least 500,000 hectares of rice paddy is lost to rats each year, out of some 7.5 million hectares planted across Vietnam, said Nguyen Manh Hung of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences.
- Over the last few years, the rat population has exploded in Vietnam due to a decline in the population of their natural predators — snakes and cats.
- Both serpents and felines are popular delicacies in Vietnam, a country of some 90 million people and their widespread consumption, thanks in part to an increasingly affluent middle class, has allowed the rat population to grow unchecked.
Some of the rats captured by Thieu in his traps are sent to
restaurants. Others are given to the farmers whose fields they were caught in,
who either eat them or use them to feed their pigs or fish.“For a long time we’ve eaten rat in Vietnam. Especially since the war, that was when people — mostly farmers — started eating them for want of other meat,” Thieu said.
Paddy rats — a healthier grain fed animal than their city
cousins — are prepared in a variety of ways nationwide depending on the
province, often grilled or steamed with lemongrass.
“Rat meat is very oily, like suckling pig, and very rich in
protein,” said Do Van Phong, sitting in a Hanoi restaurant with two large paddy
rats on a plate in front of him.
Source: Agency
POLICE SEIZE SMUGGLED PANGOLINS IN VIETNAM
PHU YEN, Vietnam — About 49 pangolins were seized while being illegally
transported in an ambulance on National Highway 1 through Dong Hoa District in
central Phu Yen Province.
The provincial Forest Management Department reported on Tuesday that Le Van
Truong, 26, the driver, failed to show legal documents to prove the origin of
the pangolins.
The driver from central Nghe An Province's Vinh City admitted that he was
hired to transport the endangered animals from Ho Chi Min City to the northern
region.
He said he didn't know who owned the vehicle or the animals.
This is the largest animal smuggling case uncovered in the province.
VIETNAM'S DELTA PREPARES FOR CLIMATE CHANGES
HCM CITY, Vietnam — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a water conservation programme for the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta from 2012 to 2020.
The programme, with orientation until 2050, aims
to help the region face climate change challenges including rising sea
levels.It covers 3.96 million ha in all the 12 delta provinces of Long
An, Dong Thap, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre, An Giang, Hau
Giang, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Kien Giang as well as Can Tho
City.
The programme is expected to benefit 32 million
residents (estimated for 2050) in the delta, 12 million of them in
coastal areas and the remaining 20 million people residing in
flood-prone areas.
A total investment of VND171.7 trillion (over US$8.2 billion) is required to implement projects under the scheme.
This includes VND85.26 trillion ($4.1 billion)
for irrigation works in the area between the Tien and Hau rivers;
VND37.78 trillion ($1.8 billion) for the Ca Mau Peninsula; VND33.98
trillion ($1.6 billion) for the area to the left of the Tien River;
VND13.44 trillion ($646 million) for the Long Xuyen Quadrilateral; and
VND1.22 trillion ($58 million) for irrigation works on islands in the
region.
The irrigation works will include sea and river embankments, canals, reservoirs, flood-control facilities, spillways and flood-control dams.
BRAIN EATING AMOEBA IN VIETNAM REMAINS A MYSTERY
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — The cause of the second fatality connected with the brain-eating amoeba (Naegleri Fowleri) has not been ascertained even after epidemiological and paraclinical tests, according to the HCM City Preventive Medicine Centre.
The HCM City Forensic Examination Centre on Thursday affirmed that tests show the cause for the second fatality in Viet Nam was the amoeba found in warm freshwater lakes and rivers.
The previous day, the City's Medical Affairs Office had said that the victim had been afflicted by encephalitis caused by the Naegleri Fowleri amoeba.
Six-year-old Ly Tai Tien of Binh Tan District suffered a stroke at birth, leading to mental retardation and movement disorder.
He died on the way to the District 6 Hospital on August 12. Doctors were told that a week before being brought to the hospital, the victim had suffered a head injury but not vomit.
He had high temperature and was given medicine for it two days before he was hospitalised.
The Naegleri Fowleri amoeba enters the body through the nose and develops rapidly, migrating through the olfactory nerve to the brain, causing fever with high temperature, headache and even loss of behaviour control.
A 25-year-old man from central Phu Yen Province was the first fatality this year at the beginning of August. He was infected with the amoeba from the water in a lake near his house into which he dove to fish for snails and oysters.
Although the number of patients infected with the amoeba is very low, the fatality rate is high, experts say.
In the US alone, 121 patients have been infected with the amoeba since 1937. Only one person survived.
Source: VNS
CLIMATE CHANGE LIKELY TO SUBMERGE MEKONG DELTA
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - According to the latest scenario announced by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, if the sea level rises one meter, more than two percent of the land in central coastal provinces, ten percent of the Red River Delta and 20 percent of Ho Chi Minh City will be flooded.According to the latest scenario announced by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, if the sea level rises one meter, more than two percent of the land in central coastal provinces, ten percent of the Red River Delta and 20 percent of Ho Chi Minh City will be flooded.
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