Plans are at an advanced stage to rescue fours bears that have suffered years of abuse on bile farms in Pleiku, central Vietnam.

The mission to rescue the moon bears has been five years in the making with Animals Asia first learning of the bears’ plight during another rescue in 2011.

The four moon bears have endured a collective 40 years of abuse living in tiny cages so that their bile can be extracted for use in traditional medicine. Now after years of pressure it’s hoped the bears can be rescued with plans being finalised following a breakthrough by local Forestry officials.

Meanwhile Animals Asia has launched an appeal with donations urgently required to cover the cost of the rescue, the bears’ subsequent vet care and rehabilitation as well as their future lives at Animals Asia’s Vietnam sanctuary.

The four bears are being held on three different bile farms in Vietnam’s Gia Lai province. Following the rescue the animals will be transported 1,200km over three days to Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre in Tam Dao, Vinh Phuc province.

Animals Asia’s Vietnam Director Tuan Bendixsen said:

“We had to walk away when we first heard about these bears five years ago, but we have never forgotten them. We’ve kept pushing for their release.

“We must thank the forestry officials who worked tirelessly to convince the farmers to do the right thing and end the bears’ suffering. Now, it looks like we have the opportunity to get them out of there but we mustn’t delay.”

Images released by Forestry officials show the bears have been kept in unsuitable, cramped conditions without room to stretch out. They are vastly underweight for their age and are also likely to be suffering from internal injuries as a result of bile extraction. 

Other regular concerns for bile farm bears are damaged teeth from trying to chew through bars, arthritis caused by a lack of exercise and cracked, painful paws from dehydration, poor diet and years of walking on bars.

Animals Asia founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE said:

“This rescue has been five years in the making, and that period of lobbying, convincing and bringing all our contacts and relationships to bear has bought us a small window of opportunity.

“We’ve got to get these bears out of there and we’ve got to do it as soon as possible.”

Around 1,200 bears are currently believed to be held on bear farms in Vietnam. Bile farming has been illegal since 2007 and officially since then farms have not extracted bile. But with limited resources and with bile extraction difficult to prove, the practice continues, albeit on a gradually reducing scale.

To date, Animals Asia has rescued 165 bears in Vietnam, mostly from the bear bile industry.

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