Bat souvenir trade in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam Nguyen Dang Hoang Vu 1, Tuan Ngoc Nguyen 1 *, Vy Nguyen Tran 1, Joe Chun-Chia Huang 2,3 1 Department of Biological Resources, Institute Tropical of Biology, Vietnam 2 Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, USA 3 Southeast Asia Bat Conservation and Research Unit, Lubbock, USA Introduction Inhabited by 25% world’s bats, Southeast Asia is important to bats study and conservation. However, the regional bat fauna are threatened by anthropogenic activities (Kingston 2013). Bat souvenir trading is a recent arisen treat in Southeast Asia but has not been received appropriate concerns (Lee et al. 2015). To further understand bat souvenir trading, in April 2015, we implemented a quick survey at five tourism sites in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Result References 1.Benjamin Lee, Matthew Struebig, Stephen Rossiter & Tigga Kingston (2015). Mounting concern over trade in bat souvenirs from Southeast Asia. Oryx 49: Kingston, Tigga (2013). Response of bat diversity to forest disturbance in Southeast Asia – insights from long-term research in Malaysia. Pp In: Bat Evolution, Ecology and Conservation (eds. RA Adams, SC Pedersen). Springer Science Press. References 1.Benjamin Lee, Matthew Struebig, Stephen Rossiter & Tigga Kingston (2015). Mounting concern over trade in bat souvenirs from Southeast Asia. Oryx 49: Kingston, Tigga (2013). Response of bat diversity to forest disturbance in Southeast Asia – insights from long-term research in Malaysia. Pp In: Bat Evolution, Ecology and Conservation (eds. RA Adams, SC Pedersen). Springer Science Press. Acknowledgments We would like to thank to Institute Tropical of Biology and Ho Chi Minh City Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for permission of the project, TNN, NDHV, and VNT especially thanks SEABCRU and Dr Tigga Kingston for funding the trips to the meeting. Methods and study Sites  Search bat souvenir famous tourist attraction markets.  Identifying species of bats souvenirs and describing souvenir designs.  Interviewing shop owners for the price and origin of the souvenirs and how long they sell it.  Search bat souvenir famous tourist attraction markets.  Identifying species of bats souvenirs and describing souvenir designs.  Interviewing shop owners for the price and origin of the souvenirs and how long they sell it. Figure 1. Five surveyed sites in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam Figure 2. A souvenir shop in Ben Thanh market, Ho Chi Mingh  Based on our interviews, bat souvenir trades have been operated for more than ten years in the study area.  Shop owners also reported that the bat souvenirs were made by local hunters and the animals were possibly captured in the nearby area. Price range (USD) No. of shop recorded Site 1: Ben Thanh Market Site 2: Ben Thanh Night Market Site 3: Nguyen An Ninh Street Site 4: Nguyen Hue Street  Bat souvenirs were found in four of the five surveyed sites, namely Ben Thanh Market, Ben Thanh Night Market, Nguyen An Ninh Street, and Nguyen Hue Street (sites 1 – 4, respectively, Fig 1)  Bat souvenirs usually comprised bats or a single bat mixed with arthropod specimens, preserved as dry forms within woody boxes with nametags (Fig 2)  Four bats species, namely painted bat (Kerivoula picta), a small tube-nosed bat (Murina sp.), a small whisker bat (Myotis sp.), and a small fruit bat (Pteropodidae sp.), were sold at all of the four sites (Fig 3) Results  Bat souvenir trades have been existed during a long time without concerns or reports from authorities. In the long run, the trades associating with hunting could threat many bat species  We urgent that local authorities should immediately react to the bat souvenir trading and associated hunting activities for mitigating impacts to the target species in Vietnam  This is a preliminary study. Our next studies will concentrate on clarifying the scale and suppliers of bat souvenir trading in Ho Chi Minh City  Bat souvenir trades have been existed during a long time without concerns or reports from authorities. In the long run, the trades associating with hunting could threat many bat species  We urgent that local authorities should immediately react to the bat souvenir trading and associated hunting activities for mitigating impacts to the target species in Vietnam  This is a preliminary study. Our next studies will concentrate on clarifying the scale and suppliers of bat souvenir trading in Ho Chi Minh City Conclusions Table 1. Prices of bat souvenirs at local markets in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (see localities in Fig 1) Figure 3. Bat species sold as souvenirs in Ho Chi Minh City