WSPA Partner provokes Vietnamese crackdown on bear farms

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soggydan/4572169245/

WSPA Partner provokes Vietnamese crackdown on bear farms

The Vietnamese government has announced a crackdown on illegal bear bile tourism, following reports of bile extraction for tourists by WSPA’s local member society, Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV). (Footnotes 1 and 2)

In a communication sent out this week, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism spelled out that tour companies engaged in so-called bear bile tourism risk losing their business licences. The letter was sent out nationwide following ENV’s expose last month of bear owners in the touristic province of Quang Ninh who continue to extract bear bile – much of which is bought by Korean tourists. (Footnote 3)

“This is fantastic news and clearly demonstrates that the government of Vietnam sees the damage bear farming is causing their tourist industry. We urge the authorities to now step up their efforts to ensure an end to the farming of thousands of bears across the country for their bile," said Dave Eastham WSPA Captive Bears Campaign Leader.

According to the Government’s communication, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) requires that: “All the provincial Departments of Sports, Culture and Tourism are to promote awareness raising activities and the responsibilities of businesses in protecting wild animals. They are to seriously implement the recommendations from international communities and national agencies involved in wildlife protection and are to cooperate with the authorities to treat all violations in accordance with the law.”

The VNAT then states that the same departments are “to prohibit all travel companies that organise tours that take tourists to bear farms where bears are illegally kept and bear bile is extracted. For a serious violation, VNAT will consider withdrawing the company’s International Travel Business License”.The document also warns that the bear bile industry “negatively influences the friendly and attractive image of the country and people of Vietnam and also harms the healthy and sustainable content of activities of local tourism”.

Tran Viet Hung, ENV Vice Director from ENV said “Authorities have been aware of illegal bear bile tourism for a long time, but it has taken an article to be published and put into public view for them to take action. We welcome the stern words from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and expect to see prosecutions of the very visible perpetrators of this illegal industry.”

WSPA and ENV, together with NGOs Free the Bears and Animals Asia Foundation, jointly lobby as the Vietnam Bear Task Force to prevent illegal bear bile tourism in Vietnam. Outlawed bear bile is still widely available in the country, where approximately 3,000 bears, almost all stolen from the wild, continue to be kept under terrible conditions in bear ‘farms’, also prohibited by Vietnamese law since 2005.

Bile is regularly extracted from the bears’ gall bladders with a syringe, causing the animals to suffer. Bear bile is used in traditional medicine and as a status symbol. The bears are kept in tiny, barren cages, often with no space to stand or move, for the duration of their lifetime of as long as 20 years. Vietnam is a member of the United Nations’ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Speciesof Wild Flora and Fauna CITES, committing it to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. The Asiatic black bear is most commonly used in bile extraction and is listed in the appendix of CITES.

Additionally, under the Vietnamese Government’s Decree 32/2006, bears are listed as an endangered species and owning and selling bears or their by-products is illegal.


World Society for the Protection of Animals

Despite herbal alternatives being available, bear bile continues to be used in some Traditional Asian Medicine (TAM) to treat conditions such as reducing fever, protecting the liver, improvement of eyesight, breaking down gallstones, and as an anti-inflammatory. TAM experts around the world agree that bear bile is completely replaceable. Surveys of global TAM practitioners by WSPA and others have shown that there are more than 50 herbal alternatives to bear bile as a medicine, as well as synthetically-produced alternatives.

Vietnam’s most profitable tourist resort of Ha Long City in north-eastern Quang Ninh Province continuesto be one of the most popular destinations for Korean tourists to witness extractions and purchase bile to illegally transport back to Korea. WSPA hopes this crackdown will signal an end to such businesses.

A short video clip of bear bile extraction on a Vietnamese bear farm is available to view at: http://www.envietnam.org/videos/quang-ninh.html 

1  . The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is the world’s largest alliance of animal welfare organisations, currently representing more than 1000 member societies in over 150 countries. WSPAstrives to create a world where animal welfare matters and animal cruelty ends. WSPA brings about change at both grassroots and governmental levels to benefit animals and has consultative status at the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

2. Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV) was established in 2000 as Vietnam’s first non-governmentalorganization focused on the conservation of nature and the environment. Its mission is to foster greaterunderstanding amongst the Vietnamese public about environmental issues of local, national and globalsignificance, ranging from the protection of wildlife and natural ecosystems to climate change.

3. ENV’s article is available at https://www.yousendit.com/download/eURDRm82UEN5UkZFQlE9PQ

***

For regular updated Zoo News, Views, Reviews and Vacancies please visit

 Zoo News Digest on

FACEBOOK

Learn More About Zoos and Aquariums by visiting

The Zoo Hubs

and subscribe to the largest and longest established zoo related ezine

by clicking

HERE

***

For Books on Zoo Management and more please visit

The Zoo Professionals Book Store

Vietnam cannot have both Bears and bear bile

Photo by: Jonas LivetHelarctos malayanus - Zoo Taiping & Night Safari

Courteousy: http://www.leszoosdanslemonde.com/

Twenty-two percent of Vietnamese people said that they have used bear bile in the past, according to the findings of the study by Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV) on attitudes associated with bear bile use in Vietnam .

A total of 3,032 people were surveyed in three cities in Vietnam : Hanoi (north), Da Nang (central) and Ho Chi Minh City (south). The participants were randomly selected and interviewed by telephone to analyze the motivation behind bear bile consumption and evaluate demographic differences between respondents in their attitudes toward the use of bear bile.

The survey results suggested that:

· Bear bile is considered as a magic medicine that can cure a range of health problems including muscle complaints, bruises, digestive problems or even cancer. Bear bile is mainly used to treat specific health problems (73%). Bear bile is also used for general health improvement (24%) and entertainment purposes (14%).

· Hanoi has a much higher percentage of bear bile users than Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City . Thirty-five percent of survey participants in Hanoi claimed that they have used bear bile in the past, while only 16% of those in Ho Chi Minh City and 15% in Da Nang said that they have used bear bile.

· The percentage of men using bear bile is higher than the percentage of women in all three cities. Almost 1/3 of all male survey participants (29%) claimed to have consumed bear bile in the past compared to 17% of all women surveyed.

· People with higher education levels (college degree or higher) are more likely to use bear bile than people with lower education levels (high schools or lower levels). Bear bile consumption also rises with age and the use of bear bile is different between age groups.

Vietnam is home to two species of bears, the Asiatic Black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and the Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus). Both species are being pushed to the edge of extinction, mainly due the illegal hunting and trade to support the demand for bear bile used as a traditional form of medicine. Bears are usually captured as cubs in the wild and sold to bear farms where they are raised and used to extract bile from the gall bladder. Currently, there are about 3,500 bears in farms in Vietnam , most of which originated from the wild.

“ Vietnam ’s bears are in trouble,” says Ms. Vu Thi Quyen, founding director and the author of the report. “Urgent and tough measures are needed to put an end to bear farming and trade in Vietnam .”

Based on the findings from this study, ENV recommends following actions:

· A long-term and sustained awareness campaign must be carried out in order to dispel the belief that bear bile is a form of magic medicine. The campaign should promote medical alternatives to bear bile (both herbal and western medicine) and highlight its perceived ineffectiveness as reported by former users.

· Stronger laws and more effective law enforcement are critical to efforts to phase out bear farming and eliminating bear bile consumption. All unregistered bears discovered by authorities should be confiscated and the owners appropriately punished.

· Studies should be carried out to identify major wild populations of bears in Vietnam where protection and recovery efforts should be prioritized; an analysis of commercial farming of bears and other endangered species and its impact on species conservation should be conducted.

The results of ENV’s study will help authorities and conservation organizations to develop more effective measures to address bear bile consumption and trade in Vietnam and enhance protection for what may be Vietnam ’s last remaining bears in the wild.

“We need to face a tough choice,” says Ms. Quyen, “ Vietnam can’t have wild bears and bear bile too.”

The full results of the study have been compiled in a report, An Analysis of Attitudes and Bear Bile Use in Vietnam (Vietnamese and English version). ENV wishes to thank the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) for supporting this important study.

For further info Contact person:
Tran Viet Hung
Communication and Public Awareness Manager
Education for Nature – Viet Nam (ENV)
Email: viethung.env@gmail.com
Phone: +84 4 35148850
Mobile: +84 9 78462159

***

For Books on Zoo Management and more please visit

The Zoo Professionals Book Store

***

For regular updated Zoo News, Views, Reviews and Vacancies please visit

 Zoo News Digest on

FACEBOOK

Learn More About Zoos and Aquariums by visiting

The Zoo Hubs

and subscribe to the largest and longest established zoo related ezine

by clicking

HERE

'No Mirrors Involved'

Snow Leopards

Photo supplied by Peter Litherland of the

Welsh Mountain Zoo

 

To advertise on Zoo News Digest please click

HERE