The Hanoi Centre for Wildlife Rescue has received an Asian black bear that was illegally kept for bile extraction for over a decade in the suburban district of Dong Anh, according to Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV).



The bear in captive in Dong Anh district.



Accordingly, the bear weighs 200kg and was kept in captive for farming for over ten years with the original intention of bile extraction. However, as the activity was prohibited, the family had stopped extracting bear bile and kept the bear as a pet.

Previously, on April 1, the 1800-1522 hotline of ENV received a notification call on the case. Compared with the list of captive bears registered, ENV officers discovered that the bear in Dong Anh was not fitted with a surveillance chip.


After collecting enough information and sending volunteers to Dong Anh to confirm the case, ENV transferred all information to local authorities. After seven months, yesterday the bear was transferred to Hanoi rescue centre.

Briefing on the above case, Bui Thi Ha, ENV Deputy Director said that locals accepted to voluntarily transfer the bear after years of keeping it as a pet changed the perception of the owners of the bear on the need to terminate bear farming in Vietnam.

Bear farming for bile is the biggest threat to bear populaces in the wild in Vietnam. Only when the demand for bear bile and bear captivity is reduced to the maximum, bears will have opportunities to live and recover in the wild, Ha stressed.

Currently, there are still 1,245 bears in captivity in 430 farms across the country.

Nhan Dan