Vietnam vows to free 1,000 bears from brutal bile farms by 2020

By Vi Vu July 19, 2017 | 04:00 am PT

Moon bears are seen at Animals Asia's Vietnam Bears Rescue Center in Vinh Phuc Province. Photo by Reuters/Kham

Commercial bear bile extraction was banned in 2005, but bile farming remains a problem after more than a decade.

Vietnam's government signed an agreement on Wednesday to work with animal activists to shut down all notorious bear bile farms and free the remaining 1,000 bears stuck in captivity over the next three years.

Animals Asia, a Hong Kong-based animal welfare organization, said in a statement that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Vietnam Forestry Administration to rescue the remaining caged bears in the country by 2020.

Vietnam banned commercial bear bile extraction in 2005, but bile farming remains a problem after more than a decade. The new agreement is expected to finally close the loophole, committing the Vietnamese government to ensuring no bears are allowed to be kept by private households.

Tuan Bendixsen, Animals Asia’s Vietnam director, said the agreement shows Vietnam acknowledges that bear bile farming harms wild populations. “As long as they are there, they will suffer extraction,” he said in the statement.

The organization also signed an agreement with the Vietnamese Traditional Medicine Association in 2015 to ensure an end to bear bile prescriptions by 2020.

Animals Asia has rescued 186 bears in Vietnam since 2008 when it set up a sanctuary in Tam Dao National Park, 70km (44 miles) north of Hanoi.