2026: the year agreement must turn into action

I remember standing beside Sen (named after the lotus flower – a symbol of renewal in Vietnam) not long after his rescue last year, and being struck by how nearly all of his life had been spent waiting.

Sen had endured over 25 years in misery and pain on a bile farm before finally being released. It’s difficult for any one of us to even imagine. At times like this I’ve found my mind drifting to what 25 years means while we’ve been growing, learning, building careers, making friends and families and, most of all, making choices to enrich every day of our lives.

Throughout his captivity, Sen had seen no sunlight, no free access to food, no bed to lay upon, no appropriate medication and not even a toy to enjoy.

By the time he arrived at our sanctuary his body already carried the weight of that long confinement. His mind cautious, his senses confused.  Could he smell the forest around him, could he hear the birdsong and the primates calling, what did the sight of treats he’d never tasted before mean to a bear so used to bland food?  

Sen didn’t rush into exploration. He was cautious and moved carefully, conserving what little energy he had as if unsure how much time or strength remained to him. 

What stayed with me the longest wasn’t the moment he arrived, but the knowledge of how close he’d come to never arriving at all.

Bears like Sen remind me why the race to end bear bile farming isn’t abstract – it’s very, very real.

As we move into this new year, every one of us wants to see and encourage the Government of Vietnam achieve its commitment to end bear bile farming. This must be the year that commitment becomes real. 

Vietnam has agreed to close the chapter in 2026 with a formal agreement we made together. The extraction of bile is already banned. But the urgent question that remains is whether the final 150 bears will be allowed to leave their cages while there’s still time for us all to make a difference.

The bears who remain on farms today are not the bears we met when this work began. The ones who have survived are older now, their bodies worn, their minds and senses shut down by decades of confinement, and many have little time left. 

This is what makes 2026 different from every year that came before it. The decision has been made, but the question is whether it is acted on in time to save these final bears.

They have survived the industry itself. What now threatens them is the wait, and that rests on whether government commitments are carried through in full. And with urgency in our hearts, we’ll keep doing all we can to make sure agreements turn into action.

From the beginning, I’ve never believed that forcing change works or lasts. Ending bear bile farming is only possible because we join and work alongside so many people and communities of Vietnam.

Respecting their culture and livelihoods, patiently listening, understanding and building trust… But patience does not mean standing still. And after more than thirty years in the field, I know there is now no time left for delay for Vietnam’s last bile bears. 

These final bears who have already survived years in cages, may not survive any more. Ending bear bile farming means stopping the practice, ending demand and rescuing every bear before it’s too late.

Our sanctuaries are waiting and our teams bring decades of experience in bear management, health and welfare. We’re ready to open our gates and bring every bear home as soon as permission is given.

And if the time some of these bears have left is short, then where and how they live out their remaining months or years matters more than ever.

I know how frustrating this final stage can feel for steadfast supporters who have stayed with us through long periods of slow, uncertain progress. I feel it too. But I also feel undeniably optimistic because I’ve seen what happens when doors that once seemed firmly shut begin to open again. Bears arrive with us who were never meant to leave their cages, because hearts and minds changed, and someone finally felt able to let go.

This year carries particular weight for me personally. I still think often of my dear friend Jane Goodall, and the many conversations we shared about patience, persistence and reason for hope. Jane knew and experienced too that the work of creating meaningful change often goes unseen and unheard and that, equally, progress, while slow, can still be real and lasting. She also understood that there comes a point when gentleness must be matched with resolve in seeing things through.

Nothing in this journey of decades has happened quickly, and none of it would have happened at all without our remarkable, unwavering supporters who have stayed with us when the work was hard and the outcome uncertain. Always trusting we would get there, thank you.

After more than thirty years, that steady commitment has brought us to the brink of ending bear bile farming in Vietnam. We are so close. 

Being close on its own doesn’t save lives. I believe we now have a real and certain chance to complete this chapter of our work by continuing to work with the Vietnamese government to #FreeTheFinalBears and by asking you, our wonderful supporters, to be part of the next steps. Please stay close in 2026 because there will be moments ahead when your voices really matter.

As Sen plays in joyful bear bundles with new found friends, we know there will always be more work to do preventing bear bile farming from ever returning, and restoring a future for Vietnam’s moon bears in the wild. But first, after thirty years of persistence, patience and refusing to give up, our team and I are utterly resolved to bring these final bears home.