Illegal wildlife meat seized at Stung Treng market
THE Stung Treng provincial Forestry Administration seized 40kg of wildlife meat on Monday from the Stung Treng Samaki market in Stung Treng town where it was being illegally sold.
Orn Chan Socheat, the acting director of the Stung Treng Forestry Administration, confirmed the seizure but said he was unaware of the details.
“I have not obtained any report from the officials as yet. They should be making a report about the crackdown to send to me,” he said.
The Minist r y of Infor mation’s website said on Tuesday t h a t t he c r ac kdow n wa s launched on October 14 as wildlife meat was repeatedly sold i l lega l ly at t he market. Some vendors still sold such me a t d e s p i t e nu mer o u s crackdow ns.
“We seized 24kg of wild pig, 13kg of red muntjac and 3kg of common palm civet from a few vendors but let them off with a warning.
“We seized the meat in the morning, but they sometimes sell it again in the afternoon,” an official said.
The seized meat was taken to the provincial forestry administration to make a report before it was destroyed by burning as legally stipulated.
Those who witnessed the crackdown claimed such measures are useless because the authorities seized only a small amount of meat being sold and rarely took legal action.
According to a Ministry of Agriculture prakas, wild pig, red muntjac and common palm civet are not classified as rare or endangered species.
Stung Treng town forestry administration deputy director Hun Sam Oeun, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Provincial Department of Environment director Eng Phirong said he was not aware of the case because environment officials did not join in the crackdown, while provincial A g r i c u l t u r a l De p a r t ment director Lieng Seng declined to comment.