Actor Trung Anh and comedian Xuan Bac urge the public to reject bear bile consumption
Ha Noi (November 15, 2017) – Celebrities Trung Anh and Xuan Bac urge the public to reject the use of
bear bile as an embarrassing reflection of the past in the most recent Public Service Announcement (PSA)
by Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV).
In this latest PSA, a wealthy businessman’s attempts to celebrate success falls flat when he offers his
guests bear bile wine. As his shocked guests look on at his social faux pas, the businessman’s wife gently
informs her husband that bear bile is old fashioned and that today, successful people don’t use it
anymore.
With the participation of starring actor, Trung Anh who is currently famous on television for his role as a
gangster, and comedian Xuan Bac as the waiter, the PSA is a firm reminder that today bear bile
consumption is a relic of the past which plays no part in modern, forward-thinking Vietnam.
The demand for bear bile poses a critical threat to Vietnam’s bears. Bears are hunted in the wild and sold live to commercial farms, where they are exploited for their bile to meet consumer demand. The peak of bear bile farming in Vietnam was in 2005, when more than 4,300 bears were documented at hundreds of farms throughout the country. Over the last 10 years, thanks to the collective efforts of authorities, NGOs, and members of the public in fighting against bear bile farming and raising the public’s awareness, bear bile consumption has slumped 61% since 2009 (shown by ENV’s research published in 2015). As a result, the number of captive bears at private facilities has decreased dramatically to 936 (October 2017), according to the National Forest Protection Department records.
However, the battle is not yet won until bear bile consumption ends altogether in Vietnam. When the
buying stops, the capture and exploitation of bears will end too, and wild bears will have a chance to
recover and live in nature without the risk of being killed or captured to support consumer demand for bear
bile in Vietnam.
“Modern Vietnam has moved on. Bear bile consumption is not only cruel and illegal, but has put wild bear
populations under tremendous pressure. In addition, bear bile is completely unnecessary with the
availability of scientifically-proven modern medicine,” says Mrs. Nguyen Phuong Dung, Vice Director of
ENV.
“Use of bear bile is rapidly being consigned to the past,” says Dung. “It is also rejected by an increasingly
larger number of the better educated public, including many celebrities like Trung Anh, Xuan Bac, and My
Linh.
Mrs. Dung listed three practical ways that the public can help protect bears:
– Do not consume bear bile or bear products.
– Report crimes involving the selling or trade of bear bile and bear products to local authorities or ENV’s Wildlife Crime Hotline, 1800-1522.
– Help educate others not to consume bear bile and bear products.