On August 11, informing Lao Dong Newspaper, the leader of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dien Bien said that based on the results of inspection and verification at the scene, working with households, the collected images showed that there were damaged livestock.
"However, up to now, there is not enough basis to confirm that the cause of cattle deaths is due to wereps or wild dogs attacking" - said the leader of the Department.
The leader of the Department of Agriculture and Environment also said that the time occurred from November 2024 to the end of July 2025. The livestock that suffered damage were 52 buffaloes and cows that were 1-24 months old (the majority of 12 month old were damaged).
There were 3 children who had part of their meat and organs discovered; 48 children who had only a small part of their ribs, spine, head, tail when discovered, some children had only a pair of horns left; 1 child whose body was not found.
Based on information provided by local people about locations where the remaining part of the cattle was suspected of being killed by Wolves and dogs, the Interdisciplinary Working Group (Forestry, Police, Border Guard, People's Committee of mua Ngam commune) conducted verification at 3 locations showing that the scene had been happening for a long time, the area had a lot of rain, so no traces left could be identified.
"According to the two people, when searching for the herd of cattle, they saw an animal shaped like a dog, from a long distance (about 70 m) and could only see it running around. People who went to get bamboo shoots near the stream saw many footprints like dog's feet, different in size and size, but did not confirm whether the footprints were domestic dogs, hunting dogs or Wolves" - the Department's leader added.
The Department's leaders said that they will continue to direct the Forest Protection Department (Thanh An Forest Protection Department) to coordinate with forces (polices, Border Guards), and the People's Committee of Nu Ngam commune to continue to grasp the situation, strengthen propaganda and mobilize people to strengthen barns, raise livestock with control, and arrange watchers to avoid damage to people's property.
If there are any wild animals that attack or threaten people's property or life, it is necessary to apply measures to prevent, chase away, and limit damage to animals, not to harm the natural habitation of wild animals; strictly prohibit hunting or trapping (because this is an endangered, rare animal with priority protection in group IB).
Previously, on July 27, the leader of Nu Ngam commune, Dien Bien province said that from April 2025 to July 15, 2025, in Na Com, Hin Phon, Huoi Chanh, Son Tong villages, there were many cases of stray Wolves attacking buffaloes and cows, causing heavy damage to the people.
Accordingly, in just about 3 months, the herd of wereps killed a total of 50 buffaloes and cows, causing damage to 31 households. The total value of damaged assets is estimated at nearly 350 million VND.
