Tran Van Trach, the owner of the two bears, is the first bear farmer in Thai Nguyen to voluntarily transfer their bears to the authorities concerned, marking the first successful step in putting an end to bear farming activities in the locality.
After witnessing the living conditions of the bears that have been rescued at the FOUR PAWS bear sanctuary, Trach decided to voluntarily hand over his bears that his family has kept for over 12 years.
After receiving the information, Thai Nguyen provincial Forest Protection Department actively cooperated with the related organisations to transfer the bears to the Ninh Binh centre. Now there are only three captive bears in Thai Nguyen after the voluntary transfer of the two from the Trach family.
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Veterinarians examine the health of the bears before transferring them to the bear sanctuary in Ninh Binh province run by FOUR PAWS Vietnam.
Discussing his decision, Trach said he hoped that if any family that currently keeps bears found that they could not afford to provide a better life for the bears, they should hand them over to the rescue facilities so that they can provide a better future for them.
Since the beginning of the year, eight bears in five provinces have been delivered to rescue centres. In particular, Ninh Binh and Can Tho have successfully ended bear farming, bringing the total number of localities free of captive bears to 22.
According to the latest statistics, by the end of July, there were roughly 780 bears in captivity outside the rescue centres across the nation. In 2005, the Government of Vietnam pledged its efforts to end bear farming and reaffirmed this commitment in 2017. The group of non-governmental organisations on bear protection has been assisting the local authorities to promote the complete end of captive bear farming in Vietnam.
