Animal Mercy Release, Environmental Conservation, and the Media in Vietnam

This essay explores the intersections of environmental conservation and culture in media narratives about animal mercy release, a common practice related to Buddhist religious traditions and cultural identities surrounding the Lunar New Year in contemporary Vietnam. Applying thematic and chronological data analysis and Sahni’s (Environmental Ethics in Buddhism: A Virtues Approach. Routledge: London and New York, 2008) analytical framework of virtue-deontology-consequentialism ethics, this research answers three major questions: What are media narratives of animal mercy release and how are they formed in Vietnam? How do these narratives connect to environmental conservation in Vietnam? And what values and ethics are drivers of them? Three types of media narratives emerge, including environmental conservation (environmental protection and biodiversity conservation), culture (national identity, spiritual customs, and Buddhist religious traditions), and ethics (virtue, deontology, and consequentialism). The analysis of these media narratives reveals insights into human-nature (dis)connections to environmental conservation in Vietnam with values not simply or linearly related to conservation goals and values. Even though animal mercy release practices pose threats to environmental conservation (e.g., the pollution of habitats, increased wildlife poaching and trade, and the spread of invasive species that may degrade local biodiversity and ecosystem quality), cultural and other values involving people’s well-being and spiritual lives may outweigh their negative impacts for the environment and biodiversity.