Bear's 'Refugee Camp'

70km from Hanoi, Vietnam Bear Rescue Center is located between Tam Dao National Park. This is the 'home' of bears that are rescued from bear bile farms.

According to the Asian Animal Protection Fund (AAF), Vietnam has 4,000 bears that are being bred to be kept on farms. Bears are healthy and enduring animals, but capturing them in unsafe conditions makes the bear's condition very bad.

Suffering like . bears

Established in March 2010, Vietnam Bear Rescue Center is a place to nurture and restore health for rescued bears from bile farms .

Bears are bitten by 'resuscitation' at Vietnam Bear Rescue Center.Photo: H. Quan

Mr. Le Duc Chinh, Education Officer of Vietnam Bear Rescue Center, said that all bears saved by the Vietnam Bear Rescue Center at farms suffer from serious diseases.Many bears have gallstones and some have liver cancer.All bears are malnourished because the diet is not guaranteed.Many farm owners bear bears with industrial feeds such as pig bran, which is not suitable for the digestive system of this animal.Poor nutrition also causes many individuals to be blind.

Due to being locked in very small cribs, there is no room for movement, many bears are paralyzed in all limbs.Cases of bear loss due to trapping in the wild are also not uncommon.When collecting bile, bears were drugged, tied with ropes and stabbed many times in the abdomen with needles longer than 10cm until gallbladder was found.'This is the extreme deprivation that a bear must bear,' Chinh said.

Health recovery for bears

Under the investment of AFF, Vietnam Bear Rescue Center has the most modern equipment in Asia with a nurturing scale, taking care of hundreds of bears.The center's focus is to rescue bears from poor captivity, thereby gradually ending bear farm operations.However, the first priority at the Center is still to recover the rescued bears.

After being taken to the Center, bears will be fed nutritious and well treated.Most surgically operated bears are designed to heal abdominal wounds, including gallbladder removal surgery.The surgery can last up to 7 hours.The rehabilitation process for bears will require many months of therapy.The center staff will use fruit to seduce them to walk, climb, and solidify the muscles that have been atrophied.Through these activities, bears will gradually regain their motor instincts.'In the Center, bears are taken care of. But the sad thing is that some bears are brought from farms that cannot be cured because their bodies have been destroyed so badly , 'said Le Duc Chinh.

Vietnam Bear Rescue Center is currently in the process of finishing with 62 bears that are nurturing.The first phase of the center includes a quarantine station and surgical facilities, with a capacity of 100 bears completed.The second phase includes an outdoor nature reserve, bear rehabilitation area and special care area underway.When completed, Vietnam Bear Rescue Center will be the home of 200 bears who have suffered much in the hands of bear farm owners.