“Going Home”: journey return wildlife to nature in Vietnam

“Going Home” is a tour to release wild animals to their natural habitats that Cuc Phuong National Park, the oldest national park in the northern province of Ninh Binh, has done so far to raise people’s awareness of wildlife conservation.

The tour, which has been developed since March 2021 from the release of wild animals for the past decade, is expected to promote love for nature among the public.

Over the past 10 years, the park has returned to the wild more than 1,600 primates, tortoises and freshwater turtles, carnivores and pangolins, and other species.

To pursue the “Going Home” tour that has been widely disseminated over the past time, the park held a special release of nine animals on Sept. 21. It is special as the release has the participation of children on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the festivity for kids.

Nine wild individuals including Python molurus, Atherurus acrourus, Cuora mouhotii, and Paguma larvata were released to their natural habitats, which is a Strict Nature Reserve in the park.

The kids who are children of forest rangers in Cuc Phuong National Park were eager to release the wild animals and they are proud of engaging in such a meaningful event.

Cuc Phuong, which is listed as an “important reserve of fauna and flora gene source in Vietnam and the region” by the UNESCO, covers an area of 22,200 ha, spanning two limestone mountain ranges and three provinces namely Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh, and Thanh Hoa in the north of Vietnam.

According to UNESCO, the park contains one-fourth of the total flora in the whole of Indochina, including 1880 species, 887 branches, and 221 families. It also gathers most of the tropical, subtropical, and temperate trees.

Here are some photos featuring the release of nine animals in the Mid-Autumn Festival or Tết Trung Thu in Vietnam.   

The release takes place in the evening. Photos: Cuc Phuong National Park

Representatives of Cuc Phuong National Park, forest rangers, and children take part in the release.

An important moment for the animal.

Going home.

Former football player of the National Team Nguyen Van Sy (sitting), who rescued three Python molurus with a total weight of 100 kg, and others return wild animals to nature.

Another individual is on the way home.

Kids were eager to join the release.