Vietnam to hasten the demise of bear farms
Vietnam, where thousands of bears are kept captive to extract their bile for traditional medicine, is speed up plans to phase out the trade.
It has reached agreement with the London-based World Society for Protection of Animals, which will help with government plans to register and microchip currently captive bears, said Ha Cong Tuan, director of the National Department of Forest Protection.
The registration and microchipping will help officials keep track of the animals’ welfare as Vietnam works to phase out bear breeding on farms and strengthen a ban on capturing them from the wild, Tuan said.
There are an estimated 2,300 to 2,400 bears in captivity in Vietnam, he said.
Bear farming has flourished for about a decade in Vietnam, where some believe the animals’ bile can cure many ailments. Bile farms are illegal in Vietnam, but the government rarely cracks down on the operations.
WSPA campaign director Leah Garces praised Vietnam’s move, saying it “could be the beginning of the end of the bear farming industry, as the only other countries that still tolerate this form of cruelty are China and Korea.”
Many farmed bears are kept in small individual cages, often unable to stand upright or turn around, according to the WSPA.
Various methods are used to extract the bile, ranging from the insertion of steel catheters into the abdomen to the use of needles to drain it from the gall bladder.
Under Vietnam’s programme, bear farmers will be required to register with local governments and captive bears will be tagged with microchips by September, Tuan said.
The owners will be allowed to keep their bears in captivity until the animals die, and must report dead or missing bears to government regulatory bodies, he said.
“After September, bears without the microchips will be considered illegal and be confiscated,” Tuan said.
The Press Association (.uk) - March 11, 2005.
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