DAO TIEN
ENDANGERED PRIMATE SPECIES CENTRE
Dao Tien is a collaboration between Cat Tien National Park, the Forestry Protection Department, Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre UK and Pingtung Rescue Centre Taiwan to establish a rescue, rehabilitation and education centre for the endangered primates of Southern Vietnam found in the illegal wildlife trade.
Dao Tien was the inspiration of Jim Cronin in 2001, the founder of Monkey World Ape Rescue, UK with the official opening ceremony in July 2008.
Located on a 57-hectare island at the entrance of Cat Tien National Park.
The centre specializes in rehabilitating endangered primates that would naturally be found in this region: golden-cheeked gibbons (Nomascus gabriellae), black shanked douc (Pygathrix nigripes), silvered langur(Trachypithecus margarita) and pygmy loris (Nycticebus pygmaeus).
This is a long-term project with the first phase completed in July 2008; the construction of a centre, veterinary room and primate enclosures to home newly confiscated individuals.
At the centre thorough health checks are undertaken to make sure individuals are healthy and disease free, in addition to DNA testing to ensure that they naturally belong to this region.
Individuals are socialized with their own kind and suitable individuals will be released back into the wild.
The final phase will be the most difficult involving long-term commitment and dedication from many departments and expertise. Involving wild surveys of primate populations, habitat requirements, DNA identification and post-release monitoring.
WHY ARE REHABILITATION CENTRES SO IMPORTANT?
The hunting of endangered primates, illegal in Vietnam since 1992 is considered by far the most immediate threat, with hunting for food, medicine and the pet trade.
With growing international trade, commercial hunting has increased, allowing trade of primate bones for example to china for rheumatism treatments. Intense hunting pressure is not sustainable with slowly reproducing primates. In 1994 Vietnam joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Effective policy implementation is the key to achieving the overall goal of ceasing wildlife trade.
For the Forestry Protection Department to be able to implement legislation they need the support of rescue and rehabilitation centers to deal with confiscated wildlife. If suitable rescue rehabilitation centers are not available, injured or diseased animals may be returned to the forest to die, or even sold back to the illegal trader.
The animals confiscated are often endangered, with rapidly decreasing wild populations due to the illegal hunting. To be able to reintroduce these individuals successfully back into the wild will support dwindling wild populations and provide an important educational awareness tool to highlight the problem, which otherwise would continue un-noticed.
It is our goal to stop this trade before the species are in terminal decline in the wild, and the best way to do that is to assist the Forestry Protection Department in Vietnam to confiscate illegally kept endangered primates
DAO TIEN STAFF
Tran Van Thanh the Director of Cat Tien National Park facilitates and organizes the collaboration between kiem lam (forest rangers) and the police for the successful confiscation of illegally kept primates.
Luong van Hien and Marina Kenyon (PhD) manage the running of Dao Tien. Hien has worked in Cat Tien for over 20 years caring for the Park staff's medical needs, and over the last 5 years for endangered wild animals.
Marina Kenyon working for Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre UK since 1999, first visited Cat Tien in 2001 and after 2 years of fieldwork for her PhD in the forests of Cat Tien returned to help develop the centre and continue research.
Three Vietnamese primate care staff work with the primates at Dao Tien. All are familiar with the forest from either working in the forest or protecting the forest. Primate care staff have been trained in specialist wildlife care in Pingtung Rescue Centre Taiwan and soon will travel to Cuc Phuong in the north of Vietnam for more specialized knowledge on captive care of langurs.
Tran van Ngoan, Nguyen Trung Thanh, Do NgocThang and K Thanh Hoai
Wendy Derham focuses on developing the education awareness program in schools, in addition to assisting with captive care and rehabilitation. Wendy has over 10 years of gibbon rehabilitation experience.
Veterinary care is directed by 
(Aren) from the Pingtung Rescue Centre in Taiwan with over 12 years experience in wildlife medicine.
International support from Dr. John Lewis, Dr. Mike Nathan and Dr. Femke Van Den Bos all specialists in primate veterinary care. Dr. Nguyen Van Nghia, an excellent Vietnamese veterinarian will be offering support for the team.
Lee Butler, a primate specialist from Monkey World, will undertake the development of semi-free enclosure construction.
CAT TIEN NATIONAL PARK
Dao Tien is located in Cat Tien National Park (CTNP), a very important area for bio diversity in South East Asia, the National Park in situated in the foothills of the Ammanite Mountain range 150km North of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. CTNP was placed under state protection in 1978, and by 1992 covered over 70,000ha of rare lowland forest. In 2002 CTNP was declared a Biosphere Reserve, and more recently Ramsar site and listed for World Heritage designation.
There are two sectors of the Park divided by a band of densely populated agriculture land. In the northern Cat Loc sector the last remaining Vietnamese rhinoceros survive (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus). While the southern Cat Tien section provides sanctuary for Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and herds of Gaur (Bos garus). Due to the uniqueness and rarity of the wildlife found in CTNP this is a location for much international and national research.
Cat Tien National Park Tourism Centre provides excellent eco-tourism with accommodation and a range of forest tours (+84) 0613669228 www.cattiennationalpark.com.