Võ Quý, Vietnamese zoologist, Died at 87

  Reseacher

Võ Quý was born on December 31, 1929, and died on January 10, 2017.

He was a Vietnamese zoologist and professor at the Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

Quy was an ornithologist and was a recipient of the 2003 Blue Planet Prize.

In the war against the French, he studied in China, but in 1954 he returned to Vietnam and helped to found the University of Hanoi.

Võ Quý researched the effects of defoliation by the United States in the Vietnam War, and the impact of the herbicides, including Agents Orange used on the environment. He helped to plan government reforestation programs.

He relocated the rare eastern sarus crane, a species badly affected by the war, and helped to establish a treaty for the protection of migratory birds.

Dr. Quy suggested that the Vietnamese pheasant (Lophura hatinhensis) might be a different species from Edward’s pheasant (Lophura edwardsi) although most ornithologists do not split these two forms.

Dr. Quy wrote the two-volume book, The Birds of Vietnam, and co-authored The Kouprey.

Võ Quý passed away at 87 years old.