Vietnam zoo owner jailed for tiger sales

A tiger inside a private zoo at Thanh Canh Tourism Park in Binh Duong. Huynh Van Hai has been jailed for three years for selling the endangered tigers that he was supposed to protect. -- PHOTO: AFP

HANOI - THE owner of a private zoo in Vietnam has been jailed for three years for selling the endangered tigers that he was supposed to protect, a conservation group and officials said on Friday.

Huynh Van Hai, of Thanh Canh Tourism Park in Binh Duong province, near Ho Chi Minh City, was sentenced on March 10, Education for Nature - Vietnam (ENV) said in a statement.

Fourteen other people linked to his operation, including his son, received sentences ranging from probation to 30 months' jail, it said.

An official at Thuan An district court of Binh Duong province confirmed the sentence.

'We feel that Binh Duong authorities have taken a vital first step in ending illegal farming and trade of tigers in Vietnam,' ENV founder Vu Thi Quyen said in the statement.

ENV said it conducted its own investigation last year into the alleged illegal trade of tigers born at Thanh Canh park. The probe indicated at least two other major tiger farmers were also involved in the illegal trade, it said. -- AFP