Page 7 - Animals Asia Review 2015

End Bear Bile Farming

is bear farming legal in Vietnam?

freeing the Halong Bears
It’s illegal to extract bile from bears and to sell bear bile. It’s
not illegal to keep registered (microchipped) bears in cages to Our eight-year long campaign to Free the Halong Bears
included handing out thousands of lealets to tourists
display to visitors. However bears that are kept like this usually visiting Halong Bay, and putting up banners on the streets.
suffer regular bile extractions.
In one month alone, we put up 120 huge banners. We also

worked with travel agencies that had previously arranged We rescued a total of
visits to bile farms for Korean tourists.
41

With local government and forestry taking such an bears in Vietnam in 2015, bringing to
active role in these efforts, the effect started to be felt. 147
In 2012-13, bear farms in Quang Ninh started to go

out of business. But it was not without a terrible cost.
Bears were dying at an alarming rate, with some farmers the total number of bears at our
deliberately starving their bears to death. Our efforts to sanctuary near Hanoi.

rescue the bears gained momentum when thousands of ‘Since I started my job, my love for
you signed and shared our petition, including celebrities
Ricky Gervais and the cast of Downton Abbey. That’s animals has grown. I love to watch the
when the Prime Minister stepped in to order the bears
bears playing and strolling happily in
be released.
large spaces of the sanctuary every day.
’
I am proud to keep their home safe!

Nguyen Trung Thanh
Bears on farms in Vietnam
Security Team Leader, Vietnam sanctuary

2006 4,000

2015 1,200

Bears on farms in Halong Bay

2007 280

2015 0
Hercules was the last of 33 desperate bears rescued from

Vietnam’s very worst bile farms.

Our sanctuary at Tam Dao National Park near Hanoi will provide a loving home for the rescued bears for life.

7