The truth about rhinos and white lions hiding in Binh Duong

While rhinos are almost no longer found in Vietnam (although scientists, experts at home and abroad try to search for many years in Nam Cat Tien forest) the rhinos feed in the lips. The artificial school is still grazing in Binh Duong.

On June 30, 2007, we had access to these animals at Dai Nam Historical and Cultural Tourism Area (Thu Dau Mot Town, Binh Duong Province), which is feeding the wild animals that have just spoken.

"We are about to open a unique zoo in Vietnam" - Mr. Tran Dang Trung, Managing Director of Dai Nam Tourist Park (KDL) Dai Nam welcomed us with such opening words. Mr. Trung added: "It is open zoo (Open Zoo) according to the zoo model of some countries in the world (Singapore, Thailand .). The difference of open zoo is that there are no stables. Iron is solidly to "imprison" the beast, they are free to walk, to play, to find prey and . to interact with visitors ".

The "main actor" of the zoo I want to approach immediately, is the rhino . Rhino farming area is a land area of ​​hundreds of square meters with fake mountains, lakes, and vacant land for rhinos to expose themselves to the warm sunshine. In particular, the front of the camp is a place to " exchange " between rhinos and visitors, containing grass available for guests to " invite " rhinos to come. Mr. Trung held a wave of elephant grass waving, immediately two rhinos removed the lake to walk silently. " They are very gentle, only eat grass and leaves and roam around the lake. Back when they came here, they never once got angry or upset " - Mr. Trung said. Two rhinos (one male, one female) were imported from South Africa in October 2006 when they were 3 years old. In Africa, the summer climate is very hot, it is very cold in the winter, and the climate is much more pleasant in our country, so the rhino seems to be "more", they eat a lot more quickly.

Not far from the rhino camp is the white lion's territory . Contrary to the slowness of rhinos, two white lions are hyperactive. They were hidden in the forest with many caves, waterfalls and trees. "In order to create a living environment similar to nature, even for food and drink, we arrange to hide in stone niches and branches for them to search" - Mr. Trung said. To record a photo of 2

Dai Nam Zoo is 10 hectares wide (near the Zoo and Botanical Garden in Ho Chi Minh City, 14 hectares) and started construction on June 15, 2006.This is an open zoo, designed with 4 main areas: reptile, herbivore, carnivorous and small zoo.In the future, this zoo will expand the type of night zoo and show gameshow.Board of Directors of Dai Nam KDL said, will turn the zoo is not only a place to keep pets, sightseeing, but also a place to educate children about nature.A naming festival for animals will be organized for students to visit in the future.

The white lion, we have to " ambush " nearly 15 minutes with the " comforting " of the staff in charge.

According to the Zoo's Board of Directors, these two lions are also imported from a farm in South Africa at nearly 3 years old. They flew on a special 18-hour special plane to Tan Son Nhat airport with the escort of foreign veterinary experts. When they arrived, their spirits were in crisis, and veterinarians had to give them a new dose of sedative to bring them to the nourishment. In the territory of the wild forest of the white lion, we saw two small wires that were as small as the water trench. According to Mr. Trung, there are 2 electric wires that prevent lion from going out. " We pay special attention to the absolute safety of people and animals. In addition to the carefully calculated isolation water trench (4 meters deep and 7 meters wide), we have a backup electric fence. All kinds of wild beasts also have 2 staff members who are trained 24/24 to immediately rescue when incidents occur "- Mr. Trung said.

In order to import these rhinos and white lions, after surveying and signing a contract to buy 2 rhino and white lion farms in South Africa, Dai Nam Company has gone through many procedures. complicated papers. The first is to identify buying animals that are not banned from trading under the Cites Convention on wild animals (group 1 wildlife is prohibited from sale).South Africa ranked white lion and rhino belonging to group 2, so it is allowed to sell but the buyer must meet strict conditions : only for the purpose of education, propagation, display and not trade and exploitation; breeding and breeding conditions; ensure safety for people and pets; team of experts, personnel and veterinarians with qualifications and experience .

Two white lions raised in Dai Nam Resort (Photo: Hung Son)

These conditions are actually checked and licensed by the authorities of the two countries. After that, the animals were isolated and domesticated at the place of sale and blood test (must satisfy the F2 generation with a clear parent), veterinary examination of the two countries, customs procedures and tax payment. and hire a transporter. According to the Board of Directors of Dai Nam Resort, the time from the time of purchase to the time the animals return to Vietnam is more than 4 months, the purchase price is 150,000 USD / 2 rhinos (about 2.4 billion VND) and 70,000 USD / 2 white lions (about 1.2 billion VND). Currently, Binh Duong Forest Protection Department still conducts regular regular and weekly inspections to ensure the safety of breeding facilities and health of these precious animals.

On a huge area of ​​Dai Nam KDL (450 hectares wide), the zoo is set aside 10 hectares to the north, a monumental construction design. Here, every top worker is completing the rest of the barn and the remaining trees to keep the visitors open by the end of the year. According to the plan, on 1.8.2007, the second wild beast batch will be imported with many rare and precious animals such as zebra, wildebeest, scimitar oryx, monkey wolf, African weasel .

Rhino is raised in Dai Nam Resort (Photo: Hung Son)

Hung Son