Moon bear rescued from life behind bars in Hanoi

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Forest rangers in Hanoi have rescued a moon bear held captive illegally and transferred the animal to a rescue center.

The rangers found the animal at a farm in Phuc Tho District during a series of raids conducted for the first time with World Animal Protection between September 8 and 16.

The animal was fine apart from minor facial injuries caused by scratching against the iron cage.

More than 1,200 bears are still living in cages at 430 farms across Vietnam, according to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture.

That figure is down from more than 4,300 in 2005 when the animals had their bile removed for sale. Many have been rescued or handed over by the owners after the government imposed a ban on bear bile.

Nguyen Thi Dung, deputy director of the Hanoi-based conservation organization Education for Nature-Vietnam, which has taken in the latest bear, said with strong actions like the recent raids in Hanoi, “Vietnam is coming closer to ending the entire bear farming business”.

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