Hanoi (VNA) – As many as 358 runners from25 countries on November 6 joined the annual race #Run4WildlifeHN to raise funds andawareness on the problem of traditional medicines made from wildlife.

Sporting Republic partnered with Education for Nature– Vietnam (ENV), the country’s first non-governmental organisation focusing onwildlife conservation, to organise the event.

This was part of a campaign aiming to raise publicawareness on the problem of traditional medicines made from wildlife in Vietnam,with the support of the US Department of State and the Humane SocietyInternational of Australia.

ENV Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung note that eachday, thousands of rare, endangered wild animals are poached and traded to meetthe demand for traditional medicines made from wildlife.

David Shin, from Sporting Republic, stressed that itis the responsibility of each individual to join efforts in dealing with the problemof traditional medicines made from wildlife.

Earlier, ENV released a film highlighting health risksfrom dining out at restaurants that sell wildlife meat, and calling on thecommunity not to support such restaurants, thus reducing the risk of extinctionamong rare animals and protecting the ecosystem.

The film tells a story about a family that areenjoying their favourite pork dish without knowing that their chef has justslaughtered a civet, and the continuous preparation of dishes that includewildlife without ensuring hygienic procedures may cause pathogens from thecivet to spread to the dish that they ordered.

In Vietnam, many wild animals have been illegallyconsumed at restaurants, which has not only negatively impacted the naturalpopulation of wildlife species, but also increased the risk of transmitting wildlife-originpathogens to customers. In fact, about 70% of the dangerous infectious diseasesover the past 30 years have originated from animals, mainly wild animals./.