Phnom Tamao Zoo

Rescue of Wildlife throughout Cambodia

All of the animals living at PTWRC were confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade, victims of habitat loss, donated by a private owner, or rescued in a human-wildlife conflict situation. Most were rescued by the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team, formed in 2001. The Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team has rescued more than 50,000 live animals and confiscated large quantities of animal parts and other contraband.^[2]

The Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) was established in cooperation with Wildlife Alliance, Cambodia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery’s Department of Forestry Administration and the Royal Gendarmerie Khmer. WRRT is a 14-member team composed of Forestry Administration officials and Military Police who are mandated to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade throughout Cambodia, tracking down poachers and traffickers, raiding restaurants, markets, and stores, and investigating trafficking networks in cities and along borders. WRRT is a unique law enforcement squad in Southeast Asia, is devoted solely to combating the illegal wildlife trade.^[2]

WRRT receives tips from a covert informant network and from the nationwide public hotline number. When WRRT rescues live animals, those that are healthy and suited for the wild are immediately released in the appropriate habitat. Animals that cannot be released because of injuries or trauma are cared for by Wildlife Alliance’s Care for Rescued Wildlife team at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center.^[2]

While Wildlife Alliance provides the capacity building with logistical and technical support to WRRT, WRRT also trains teams working for other organizations that are addressing the illegal wildlife trade, both in the manner in which they conduct operations and in animal handling skills. WRRT’s skill in handling and caring for rescued wild animals is such that there are almost never any fatalities, despite the poor conditions in which most traded wildlife is found.^[3]

In 2010 Wildlife Alliance worked with the Cambodian Government to implement ASEAN-WEN (Wildlife Enforcement Network) in which authorities work with their counterparts in the neighboring countries to try to stop the cross-border trade.