VietNamNet Bridge – Two Asiatic bear cubs rescued by Hai Phong City Police were transferred to a bear sanctuary in Ninh Binh Province on Thursday, according to NGO Education for Nature Viet Nam (ENV).

The two bear cubs are in a stable condition. - Photo courtesy of ENV

On Wednesday evening, environmental police seized the cubs while they were being traded.

They were handed over to the bear sanctuary operated by Four Paws Viet – a wildlife welfare organisation – in Ninh Binh.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung, deputy director of ENV, said that the two bears were about two - three weeks old and in a stable condition.

According to Dung, all bears in Vietnam were listed as endangered or rare species and protected under Resolution No 160/2013.

Capturing, farming, killing, trafficking and trading of bears and bear products are violations of the criminal code.

Le Xuan Chinh from the environmental police department said traders took advantage of complicated areas to commit crimes, making it difficult for the force to detect and arrest them.

“We are now collaborating with related agencies to investigate the case,” he said.

Vietnam has 22 bear farm-free provinces. The number of bears in captivity significantly decreased between 2005 and 2017 from 4,300 to 900.

According to Viet Nam Forest Protection Department data, by July 2018 Vietnam had only 780 bears in captivity outside rescue centres.

Bears were kept to extract bile until the 1990s. Bear bile farming was outlawed in 1992 but owners were not forced to give up the bears they held, prolonging the harmful practice. 

Source: VNS