FOUR PAWS Viet on November 15 received an Asiatic black bear named Trang, the last bear kept in private farm in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, putting an end to bear bile farming in the province.
The captive bear named Trang is given medical checkup before being tranfered to the Bear Sanctuary Ninh Binh. (Photo: VNA)
Ben Tre(VNA) – FOUR PAWS Viet on November 15 received an Asiatic black bear namedTrang, the last bear kept in private farm in the Mekong Delta province of BenTre, putting an end to bear bile farming in the province.
Trang, a 139-kg femalebear, has been kept by family of a local woman named Vo Thi Kim Tuyen in PhuHao village, Phu Hung commune, the provincial capital of Ben Tre since 2002.
It made Ben Tre the 23rd bear farm-free province of the country.
It was a joint effortof Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV) and the Ben Tre Forest ProtectionDepartment in convincing bear owners to voluntarily transfer the bear to theFOUR PAWS Viet’s Bear Sanctuary in the northern province of Ninh Binh.
Director of the FOURPAWS Viet Ngo Thi Mai Huong said the centre has teamed up with other non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs) to encourage bear owners across Vietnam to voluntarily giveup the bears they held as bear is an endangered wild animal that needsprotection.
It was estimated thatclose to 800 bears are still being kept in captivity in the country, she noted,adding that many owners now want to transfer their bears and rescue centres andsanctuaries are ready to take care of the bears and allow them to live in thenatural environment.
FOUR PAWS Viet, an animalwelfare sister organisation of FOUR PAWS International in Vietnam, was foundedin 2017 to implement a long-term strategy for the rescue of bears being heldcaptive on bile farms and to make contribution to nature protection andconservation in Vietnam.
Prior to this,the NGO had sponsored its Vietnamese partners to build the Ninh Binh BearSanctuary. The first phase of the site covers 3.6 hectares and offer suitableaccommodation for up to 44 bears. Once the second phase completes, the entiresite will cover an area of over 9.7 hectares to house up to 100 bears.
According to ENV, thenumber of bears in captivity in Vietnam sharply declined between 2005 and July2018 from 4,300 to 780. They had been caged to harvest bile, a digestive fluidused in traditional Eastern medicine. Bear bile farming was outlawed in thecountry in 1992 but owners were not forced to give up the bears they held, onlyserving to prolong the harmful practice.
In 2017, thegovernment of Vietnam agreed a plan with non-profit group Animals Asia to shutdown all bear farms in the country and move all remaining captive bears tosanctuaries. -VNA
VNA
Related News
The 11th annual Hanoi Half Marathon returned to the capital city on December 10 with the theme “Run for Bears – End Bear Farming”, attracting hundreds of runners from 43 countries.
The Ambassador for the World Animal Protection (WAP), Thai singer and actor Tono Pakin Kumwilaisuk is set to come to Vietnam to attend a bear protection exhibition in Hanoi on June 30.
A bear protection exhibition was kicked off in Hanoi on June 30, in the presence of the World Animal Protection (WAP) Ambassador - Thai singer and actor Tono Pakin Kumwilaisuk, to raise public awareness of the importance of bear protection.
An Asiatic black bear owned by Tran Van Trach in Thai Nguyen city of northern Thai Nguyen province has been safely transferred to Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary.
Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV) on August 27 said it has ended the operation of the last private bear bile farm in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded technical cooperation project on drainage management for climate resilience in Can Tho aims to improve planning capacity for wastewater collection, enhance operations and management of existing treatment plants, and the city’s ability to run public awareness campaigns.
A series of environmental and marine-related events to held in the central province of Nghe An from June 4-6 will generate a broad social impact, helping transform awareness into action and commitments into concrete results, and contributing to Vietnam’s goals of green growth, circular economy development, net-zero emissions and harmonious coexistence between people and nature.
According to marine experts, the repeated appearance of dolphins near the shore of Cai Chien Island is a positive sign that the local marine environment is well protected.
According to the Department of Forestry and Forest Protection, as of May 12, more than 1,350 communes and wards nationwide were under the highest forest fire warning of Level 5, while 294 others at Level 4.
To support conservation efforts, the national park has invested in a comprehensive system of breeding enclosures, quarantine areas, reproductive research facilities, wastewater treatment systems and surveillance cameras.
The climate resilience and sustainable infrastructure project in Lang Son consists of two main components, focusing on sustainable infrastructure and environmental improvement; and technical assistance and capacity building, with AFD experts expected to train project management officials and local agencies in disaster response and climate adaptation.
Beyond helping Hai Phong tackle environmental issues, Eco Hopia's primary objective is to transfer advanced technologies to Vietnam, enabling local partners to master them and contribute to the sustainable development of the country's agricultural sector.
The number and activity of tropical cyclones and depressions over the East Sea, internationally known as the South China Sea, and their direct impacts on mainland Vietnam are expected to be comparable to the multi-year average. The long-term average over the East Sea is 5.2 typhoons, with 1.9 making landfall.
Launched in 2021 with funding from the Norwegian people through WWF-Norway and WWF-Vietnam, the “Hue – Plastic Smart City in Central Vietnam” project aims to help Hue protect rivers, wetlands and coastal ecosystems from plastic pollution while building the city into a model plastic-reduced urban area in central Vietnam.
The Bac Lieu Forest Protection Unit under the provincial Forest Protection Sub-Department said that it had completed procedures to transfer and release the animal into its natural habitat.
Initiatives on biodiversity finance, carbon credits, public – private partnerships, nature-based tourism, and private sector investment are creating more opportunities to increase resources for ecosystem conservation and restoration, said an official.
Vietnam has established a network of 180 terrestrial and marine nature reserve covering more than 2.67 million hectares. These sites are being further strengthened to improve ecological connectivity, restore habitats and conserve endangered species. Forest cover remains stable at over 42%, contributing to water protection, climate adaptation and carbon absorption.
The animals included two masked palm civets, four stump-tailed macaques, and seven rhesus macaques. All belong to Group IIB under Circular No. 85/2025/TT-BNNMT issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment on the management of endangered, precious and rare species, as well as the implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The animal was identified as a clouded monitor (Varanus nebulosus), weighing approximately two kilograms and measuring around 70 centimetres in length. The species belongs to Group IB — a category of endangered and rare forest wildlife species given the highest level of protection in Vietnam, with all forms of commercial exploitation and use strictly prohibited.
The stump-tailed macaque, scientifically known as Macaca arctoides, is classified as a rare and endangered species under Group IIB in Vietnam’s regulations on endangered wildlife management.
Ho Chi Minh City aims to push urban green coverage above 1 sq.m per person by 2030, while stepping up greenhouse gas reduction initiatives on the way to Net Zero by 2050.
Designed to process 2,000 tonnes of waste per day and generate 45MW of electricity for the national grid, the project is the first high-tech waste-to-energy plant in southwestern Hanoi, where large-scale solid waste treatment facilities have long been lacking.
The figure includes losses of 6.7 billion VND in Cao Bang province and 3.5 billion VND in Dak Lak province, while Quang Ninh and Thanh Hoa provinces have yet to report estimated damages.
The three turtles, each weighing around 1.5 kilogrammes with shells measuring about 25 centimetres long and 20 centimetres wide, are green sea turtles. They were accidentally caught in fishing nets and found drifting at sea near Con Co waters on May 16 by fisherman Bui Dinh Thuy in Cua Viet commune during a fishing trip.
In the central province of Dak Lak, violent rainstorms with strong winds and lightning injured one person and damaged 27 houses, one of which collapsed entirely. Seven houses suffered severe damage and 13 had roofs ripped off in Ea Kar commune.
The captive bear named Trang is given medical checkup before being tranfered to the Bear Sanctuary Ninh Binh. (Photo: VNA)