Report wildlife crime in Vietnam
ENV today released a new Public Service Announcement video, entitled Backwards in Time, which takes viewers on a reverse journey to highlight to consumers exactly where bear bile originates.
The video traces the path of a vial of bear bile from end-user all the way back to the bear farm and the cruel and illegal process of bear bile extraction. Opening with a mother giving her daughter bear bile to treat a bruise, the PSA video takes viewers along every step of the way, from the girl’s home to the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) shop where the bear bile is purchased, and finally back to the bear farm where the bile is extracted.
“If there is no demand for bear bile, there is no reason for private citizens to keep bears,” says ENV Vice Director Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung. “We will continue to encourage bear owners to surrender their bears and give them a better life at one of Vietnam’s three international gold standard rescue centers.”
Dung noted that most Vietnamese are now turning their backs on bear bile consumption in favor of scientifically proven modern medicines that are more effective, readily accessible, and inexpensive.
Find out more about our bear program in Vietnam on our Prison Break Bears appeal page.
Three illegal bears have been confiscated from the home of a bear trafficker in Nghe An, Vietnam in what was one of the toughest operations undertaken thus far by Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV).
ENV, acting on information received from the public, pinpointed the location of the Nghe An farm, established the status of the bears concerned and prevailed upon the local authorities in Nghe An to act. After some foot dragging by the authorities since being informed in April, the matter was only finally resolved this week with the “voluntary transfer” of three bears.
A short movie extolling the better life for bears awaiting them at a rescue center has been released today by Education for Nature – Vietnam. The movie, along with a companion hard copy brochure, is being supplied to Vietnam’s remaining bear owners and local Forest Protection Departments in order to speed up the end of bear farming in Vietnam.
We have just handed over a 5000-signature petition calling for the ending of bear farming. What’s remarkable is that all the signatures are from residents of Phuc Tho, the largest bear farming hotspot in Vietnam!