Wildlife crime persists in Cambodia’s protected areas and sanctuaries despite constant patrols by rangers and local communities attempting to stop it.

On November 21, rangers at the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary in Battambang province rescued one female southern serow, also known as Sumatran serow, that was pregnant and was about to give birth when she was caught in a snare.

The mother’s strenuous efforts to release herself from the snare caused the baby to die in the womb. Fortunately, the mother was rescued by a team of veterinarians from the international conservation NGO Wildlife Alliance.

The Sumatran serow looks like an antelope crossed with a goat and is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as a globally endangered species, according to Ministry of Environment spokesman Neth Pheaktra.

“Currently, southern serows, or Sumatran serows, are facing extinction due to poaching, trapping and habitat loss,” he said.

Pheaktra called on the public to refrain from bush meat and stop snaring, hunting and selling wild animals.

Also on November 21, two men who were arrested for the capture of wild birds in the area of Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province have been sent to the provincial court.

Keo Seima sanctuary ranger Mao Reoum told The Post that during questioning, the suspects said that the wild birds were from the villagers’ plantation next to the sanctuary and that they intended to transport them for sale to a Vietnamese trader who lived on the border of Mondulkiri.

Authorities arrested the duo along with 39 Oriental Magpie Robins and two motorcycles as evidence.