Nine bears raised at a bile farm in Di An town, Binh Duong province were rescued by the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) on June 26.

According to the Forest Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, seven among nine of the bears had lived in the farm for more than 10 years, while the other two had been kept in the farm since 2008. The owners of the farm voluntarily handed over the bears to the State.

The AAF received and transferred the bears to Tam Dao Bear Rescue Centre, Vinh Phuc province. The team removed each bear individually, each was anaesthetised and placed into a transport cage.

Two Animals Asia vets were on hand to oversee what is being called the “9Lives” rescue with two other veterinary nurses and a bear manager also making the long trip home with the bears to monitor their individual conditions.

The bears, consisting of five males, four females respectively named Xanadu, Cloud, Jane, Ping An, Bee, Cash, Soul, Rambus and Wofie, will soon begin a 45-day quarantine ahead of ongoing rehabilitation that will hopefully eventually see them be released back into the wild for the first time in over 10 years.

Earlier, the bears were given examinations checking their eyes, teeth, joints, limbs, abdominal ultrasonography, blood samples, feathers, and serious lesions.

According to Animals Asia Vietnam Director Tuan Bendixsen, the organisation has mobilized double the normal amount of staff and veterinarians for the rescue. After the rescue, Binh Duong province will have considerably reduced its bear bile farming.

The AAF has implemented many rescues with large numbers of bears in Binh Duong Province. In early 2010, 19 bears were recused from a bear farm in Tan Uyen district. A year later, in 2011, a farm owner in Thuan An, Binh Duong also voluntarily returned 14 bears.

This is the AAF's second rescue in 2017. In addition to the nine bears, the organisation has successfully rescued 186 bears. Currently, there are 170 bears that are receiving medical care, nutrition and live in the semi-wildlife Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre.

Nhan Dan