Rapid Market Mapping of Rice Field Rat in the Mekong Delta Region of Vietnam

By Le Thanh Hai

April 24, 2012

The PREVENT project has the goal of preventing the emergence and spread of disease that comes from animals to humans.  The project is primarily focusing on the three types of animals – rodents, bats and primates – that have been implicated most frequently in the transmission of infectious diseases that have had a severe impact on humans.  In Vietnam, it appears that at least one segment of the population has high rates of contact with one specific rodent - rice field rats.

To gain a general sense of the breadth of the trade in rice field rats, PREVENT's program coordinator conducted a rapid market mapping of district and commune markets in 11 provinces of the Mekong Delta Region. During this visit a snapshot of the rice field rat trade was captured.

(Editor's note: minor edits have been made to the author's original report)

The Mekong Delta Region is considered a hometown of rice field rats (Chuot Dong in Vietnamese). In the past, Chuot Dong meat was very cheap so there were few farmers who caught rats. But to-date, rat meat has become a special dish on the menu of many restaurants in the big cities of the Mekong. Some people speculate that as bird flu continues to limit the supply of poultry meat, rat meat has become more and more expensive. Consequently, rat catching has become a full-time job with a reasonable income for many farmers. 

There are two popular types of Chuot Dong in the Mekong region of Vietnam, one is very big, about five – six heads per kilogram, called Cong Nhum, and the other is smaller, about 15-20 heads per kilogram, called Cong Com. Processed rat meat can be seen in every market in both city and rural areas, but live rats are typically only seen at the markets in rural areas.

Picture 1: Processed rat meat on ice at the market.	Picture 2: Live rats in cages, ready for sale, at the market.

Chuot Dong can be butchered right at the market without any complicated steps. Often the butcher will use scissors and by hand cut off head, legs, skins and entrails. It usually takes one minute to complete the butchering for one rat. Next, the butchered rat meat is either cooked or packaged on ice for delivery. The remaining parts (such as entrails, head, legs and tail) are used as food for animals such as catfish and crocodiles. Everyone pitches in to butcher Chuot Dong, young and old, women and men, because this task is simple and does not require techniques and skills, and provides good additional income.

Picture 3: Two women butchering Chuot Dong at the market.	Picture 4: Everyone pitches in to help butcher, young and old, boys, girls, and women.

There are two peak times for harvesting Chuot Dong, after the rice harvesting in April, and during the rainy season in September when Chuot Dong are gathering on highlands to escape the floods. On this trip we identified markets which provide around one ton of Chuot Dong per day throughout the year and two to three tons during the peak times. For example in Hong Ngu market, Dong Thap Province, we observed that at 2 p.m., there were six to-eight people transporting Chuot Dong to the market by motorbike, each transporter carrying around 250 -300 kilogram of Chuot Dong per motorbike.

Picture 5: A transporter getting assistance transporting rat by motorbike into the Hong Ngu Market, Dong Thap Province	Picture 6: A transporter securing the rat cages for delivery to Hong Ngu Market, Dong Thap Province

Some farmers invested in buying small trucks for transporting Chuot Dong to meet the demand of different customers. “Every day, we have to deliver nearly two tons of Chuot Dong to smaller stores, restaurants, and wildlife farms in the Mekong region. To do that we have at least ten regular workers and two small trucks (carrying up to one ton) and one big truck (carrying up three-five tons) running every day for delivery,’’ One owner of a big Chuot Dong business informed us.  Not only is demand for Chuot Dong meat  increasing for human consumption, it is increasing for animal consumption, too. Chuot Dong is sold to wild animal farms to feed animals such as python and crocodiles.

Picture 7: Men loading cages full of live rats for delivery.	Picture 8: Men continue to load a truck full of rat for delivery.

PREVENT project is funded by USAID.

Photos by Le Thanh Hai 2012 | FHI 360

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