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In 2022 the 40-year-old HCMC woman had paid nearly VND200 million ($7,600) to buy a Moluccan cockatoo, an Amazon naped parrot, and an African Grey parrot online after seeing others raise them as pets on social media.

“I only learned how to care for the parrots and never checked if they were on the endangered list,” she says.

The seller had told her the birds were bred in captivity and not trapped in the wild. Videos of her parrots attracted millions of views online.

Shortly after posting about her pets online a wildlife protection center notified her that she was illegally keeping endangered species and potentially faced criminal charges. She paid the fine and handed the parrots over to wildlife authorities.

In August Thai Khac Thanh, 45, of Nghe An Province was sentenced to six years in prison for raising and trading 13 silver pheasants, a protected and endangered species.

Thanh, fond of ornamental trees, birds and chickens, bought three silver pheasants in 2024 and successfully bred them. Before his arrest in April 2025 he said he did not think his hobby could have legal repercussions.

At an appeal hearing on Oct. 17 the Hung Yen People’s Court dismissed the criminal charges against Thanh, saying recent legal changes mean his actions could not be deemed dangerous to society.

His initial prison sentence had sparked online debate, with some saying both buyers and sellers of endangered wildlife should be punished to deter violations and others arguing that people who raise such animals out of ignorance should not face heavy penalties.

Quang Huy, a bird keeper in Hanoi, said: “Authorities should fine professional traders. We are just hobbyists; if we unknowingly buy a protected species, we should not be treated as criminals.”

Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung, deputy director of Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV), dismisses the lack of awareness argument saying it does not justify breaking the law.

Authorities have taken steps to raise awareness of wildlife protection, and people can access information online or contact local forestry departments for information, she says. “Buyers need to research before purchasing.”

Lawyer Tran Thi Thanh Lam of the Hanoi Bar Association says belief in wildlife products as “miracle cures” and limited legal knowledge are among the main reasons for the violations.

According to ENV’s 2024 report on wildlife crimes in Vietnam, there were 242 criminal cases and 156 offenders got prison sentences, four times the number in 2018. The report also documented more than 3,100 violations, including 1,400 online advertisements for wild animals.

By the middle of 2025 it had received 1,072 public tips that lead to the seizure of 1,371 protected animals.

HCMC forest rangers seize 11 elongated tortoises, a critically endangered species, along with several other rare turtles from Ngoc Hoang Pagoda, HCMC, in Oct. 2022. The animals were taken to a rescue center before being released into the wild. Photo by Read/Dinh Van

Lam says people should educate themselves on wildlife laws, avoid using wildlife products and report violations to authorities.

Dung says authorities should issue a clear list of wildlife species for commercial breeding that are not threatened in the wild and do not transmit diseases to humans. “[This] would help protect endangered species and guide people on which animals they can raise legally.”

Nguyen Viet, 50, of Nghe An, who has raised ornamental birds and chickens for years, says he once planned to raise silver pheasants after seeing them widely sold online. “They were bred and sold openly for a few hundred thousand dong each, and so anyone could buy them.”

But news of a man “jailed for raising silver pheasants” made him reconsider. He had focused only on the birds’ appearance and singing and not their conservation status, he says ruefully. “I was lucky to learn from that case. Now I always check the Red List before deciding which animals to raise.”