HCM City Crocodile Exports Tripling in Jan-August
Ho Chi Minh City crocodile companies have exported 9,900 live animals in the first eight months of 2008, tripling the figure of last year, the Vietnam News Agency reported, citing the city’s Department of Forest Rangers.
The companies also shipped abroad 11,000 sets of crocodile skin during the period, earning US$3 million.
Major markets for crocodile export included Japan, Singapore, France, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and China.
Apart from skin, crocodile fillet and dried meat are also available for foreign and domestic consumption. Some local shops have opened to sell souvenirs made from crocodile skin, claws and teeth.
Ho Chi Minh city, the biggest crocodile growing area in Vietnam, currently has four companies licensed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to export crocodiles. (VNA)
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