Six suspects identified in Vietnam after broadcast that depicted killing and eating of langur monkey

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Six men were arrested in central Vietnam for killing and eating an endangered monkey while live-streaming it on social media, police said on Friday.

The men, aged from 35 to 59, filmed themselves with a mobile phone eating a langur monkey and streamed the video on Facebook on 17 November. They were finally identified and arrested on Thursday.

“It took time for us to figure out the suspects involved,” a police officer in central Ha Tinh province told AFP.

The trafficking and consumption of rare and endangered species is widespread in Vietnam as many still believe in the healing and medicinal qualities of the animals’ body parts.

But the sale of the animals occurs on the black market and consumers rarely broadcast the killing and eating of the creatures, which are protected under Vietnam’s conservation laws.

The men have been accused of violating regulations on protecting “endangered and precious animals” and confessed to the crime, said a statement posted on Ha Tinh provincial police’s website.

One of the men had bought the monkey off a hunter for $49 (£38), said the statement.

Leaf-eating langurs are among the most endangered primate species in the world and are only found in the northern part of Vietnam.

The south-east Asian country is also home to other endangered species, including the Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle, the mountainous Saola antelope, and the snub-nosed Tonkin monkey.

But critics say conservation protection laws are not enforced effectively, meaning the poaching of endangered species domestically and in neighbouring China continues unchecked.