On June 18th, Mr. Nguyen Vu Linh, Director of Bach Ma National Park, announced that the Vietnam Bear Rescue Center located within the park had just received three bears rescued in Thai Nguyen and Hanoi .
After years of persistent campaigning, dialogue, and building trust between the bear owners and local forest rangers, relevant authorities, and Animals Asia, all three families voluntarily handed over their bears to the State with the hope that the bears would be cared for in better conditions. The transfer was carried out in good faith and with a sense of responsibility, without any demands or conditions from the owners.
The sun bear was taken to the rescue center at Bach Ma National Park.
The bear rescued in Thai Nguyen is a sun bear, over 20 years old, that has been kept since 2004 and has undergone two microchipping procedures in 2005 and 2019. Initial clinical examinations showed the bear weighs approximately 170kg, is in relatively stable health, and has been named Ocean.
Meanwhile, the two sun bears received in Phuc Tho commune (Hanoi) are named Rain, weighing approximately 130kg, and River, weighing approximately 200kg.
At the Vietnam Bear Rescue Center, bears are cared for under a suitable regime, with living spaces close to nature, along with specialized nutrition and veterinary care. Upon arrival, each bear is quarantined for a minimum of 30 days for health monitoring before gradually integrating into a semi-natural environment.
Transfer the captive bear to a rescue center.
Dr. Jill Robinson MBE, Founder and CEO of Animals Asia, shared that Rain, River, and Ocean are not only three bears recently rescued, but also mark a milestone: 300 bears have been rescued by Animals Asia in Vietnam.
"I am deeply moved to witness the positive changes taking place. Thai Nguyen no longer has captive bears, while Hanoi continues to be one of the leading localities in the effort to transfer bears. Behind each rescue is the perseverance, trust, and efforts of many people, from forest rangers and local authorities to households who have voluntarily decided to transfer their bears," Dr. Jill Robinson MBE revealed.
While in 2004-2005, when the program to microchip captive bears was implemented nationwide, Vietnam recorded over 4,300 bears kept in farms and households, that number has now dropped to only about 140 individuals.
Hanoi alone was once a "hot spot" with approximately 800 captive bears. In the last seven years, the Hanoi Forest Protection Department, in collaboration with Animals Asia, has successfully transferred 41 bears from households to rescue centers. The Vietnam Bear Rescue Center in Bach Ma, Hanoi, alone has contributed 10 of the 29 bears currently being cared for there.
According to conservation experts, each successful rescue is not simply about removing a bear from its cage. It is also the result of a change in public awareness about wildlife conservation, and a confirmation of the effectiveness of an approach based on dialogue and consensus rather than coercive measures.
Animals Asia began rescuing bears in Vietnam in 2007. Of the 300 bears (both sun bears and Asiatic black bears) rescued, 183 are now living in lush, semi-natural environments at the two Vietnam Bear Rescue Centres located in the buffer zones of Tam Dao National Park in Phu Tho province and Bach Ma National Park in Hue province.