This is the third delivery of captive bears in Vietnam so far this year, marking a big step forward in the efforts of the Vietnamese Government, the Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV), and partner organisations in terminating bear captivity in the country.
Earlier, in April, Four Paws, an Austria-based non-profit animal welfare organisation, rescued the last two captive bears in Ninh Binh and rehomed them at their bear preservation farm in the locality, thus removing the province from the list of Vietnamese localities with captive bears.
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The bear is taken to the bear rescue station of the Cat Tien National Park. (Photo: Free the Bears)
As shown by the ENV’s statistics, in 2005, Vietnam reportedly had more than 4,300 bears held in captivity at bear farms nationwide. However, after over ten years of unceasing efforts, the number of captive bears had been reduced to 900 individuals by the end of 2017.
ENV vice Director Nguyen Phuong Dung expressed her hope that more localities across the country would demonstrate a determination to free the remaining captive bears in their localities.
With an additional locality successfully putting an end to bear captivity, Vietnam will be a step closer to the goal of freeing all bears from captivity, she said.
