In March 2025, a Tan Nhut Commune resident, Nguyen Van Trung, took custody of a long-tailed macaque (Macaca Fascicularis) from forest rangers in the district. Trung explained that he had been entrusted with the care of the tailless monkey a year prior, in 2024.
After a year in captivity, Trung decided to surrender the macaque to the forest rangers, hoping for the animal’s safe return to its natural habitat.
“I want it to have a better life in the wild,” Trung expressed.
The forest department’s rangers tranquilized the macaque and transported it to a wildlife rescue facility for observation and treatment. They plan to release it back into nature once it is ready.
According to the rangers, this particular macaque is a male, weighing approximately 4.6 kilograms. It belongs to the Group IIB category of wild animals, as listed in Vietnam’s legislation on rare and endangered forest species.
 |
| A sedated monkey is safely bagged before being transported to a Ho Chi Minh City wildlife rescue station. Photo: Ngoc Khai / Tuoi Tre |
The injury to its tail is believed to have occurred during its younger years.
Forest rangers caution against keeping macaques and other wild animals as pets. These creatures possess strong natural instincts, which may result in unpredictable behavior, including attacks or harm to humans.
There have been incidents in Ho Chi Minh City where monkeys, previously kept as pets, escaped into residential areas and inflicted injuries or damage.
Rare wild monkey attacks leave 2 people injured
A rare wild monkey has attacked two local people in a residential area in the central province of Quang Tri’s Hai Lang District, the Dan Tri Newspaper reported.
Vietnamese trader of reptiles turns himself into wildlife conservation volunteer
Dang Thai Tuan, a 21-year-old student of the University of Science and Education under the University of Da Nang in central Vietnam, came a long way to become a wildlife conservation volunteer.
Seven tigers given new life after rescue from illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam
Seven tiger cubs have been given a new life at a nature reserve in Vietnam after being saved by Vietnamese authorities from illegal wildlife traders last year.
National park release wild animals back to nature
Thirty masked palm civets were released back to nature on November 23 after a period of staying in the care at the Cuc Phuong National Park in the northern province of Ninh Binh.
Meet Vietnam’s pangolin protecter
Nguyen Van Thai is a Vietnamese conservationist on a life mission to protect pangolins, which are critically endangered, and one of the most trafficked animals in the world.
