Thanks to support from Wildlife Alliance, forest rangers who have been patrolling Pursat province’s Rovieng area have seized wildlife meat and illegal hunting, trapping and snaring equipment.

Wildlife Alliance said on Wednesday that this week, the rangers who patrolled the area seized 40kg of roe deer meat, five home-made rifles, one home-made truck, eight ox-drawn carts, two electric fish shocking devices and 314 snares, as well as a five cubic metre net to catch birds.

The rangers also stopped the construction of three illegal houses and three camps. Wildlife Alliance said the perpetrators fled the scene.

Wildlife Alliance also went to the villages to educate the people about the health risks of eating wild animals.

“Many of these meats are refrigerated for a long time before the consumer buys them. Consuming these meats opens the door to many contagious diseases, such as the novel coronavirus.

“We ask everyone to refrain from consuming wild animal meat for the sake of your own health and everyone else’s,” it said.