Animals Asia grants limited access to visitors who want to help bring a species back from the brink of extinction while ending bear bile farming in Vietnam.
She’s invisible in a steel cage, a shadowy mound curled into herself, concealing the glorious lemon crescent of moon emblazoned on her chest.
Taking bears from the wild for bear bile farming has been illegal in Vietnam since 2005 . There are still at least 300 bears kept in cages not bigger than a garden shed through a legal loophole that allows farmers to keep existing animals if they claim not to be extracting bile.Nobody believes a bear is kept in a cage for anything other than bile extraction, least of all Jill Robinson, the British founder of Animals Asia and the world’s leading expert on bear bile farming.
A group of bears had been corralled in a circular pit and were standing on their back legs teased by tourists dangling apples on strings near hungry mouths. Robinson snuck away, into a basement, where she found 32 moon bears in shocking condition peering out of “crush cages” that enabled bile to be drained through catheters inserted into their gallbladders.
Robinson never saw Hong again. The message was clear. She had to do something, so she established Animals Asia in 1998 to oversee the construction of sanctuaries in China and Vietnam. To date, nearly 700 farmed bears have been rescued and, hearteningly, there’s now an agreement with the Vietnamese government to end the practice completely by 2026.
Liquid gold comes in a tiny bottle that sells illegally all over Vietnam but bears don’t need to be farmed because there are effective synthetic alternatives. “Let me show you something,” says Robinson, heading down a winding pathway to the hospital. We slip into sterile clothes and foot covers. She pulls back the huge metallic door to reveal a shaggy inpatient. “Hello, Barli, you beautiful old boof,” she says.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
‘Nothing prepared me’: These rare, ‘wretched beauties’ will break your heartAnimals Asia grants limited access to visitors who want to help bring a species back from the brink of extinction while ending bear bile farming in Vietnam.
Read more »
‘Nothing prepared me’: These rare, ‘wretched beauties’ will break your heartAnimals Asia grants limited access to visitors who want to help bring a species back from the brink of extinction while ending bear bile farming in Vietnam.
Read more »
Hope for one of Australia’s most critically endangered animalsThe Gilbert’s potoroo, one of Australia’s most critically endangered animals, is making a comeback thanks to researchers in Western Australia.
Read more »
Climate change is forcing massive changes to how Australia protects endangered animals and plants from extinctionClimate change and bushfires are forcing massive changes to the way Australia conserves threatened animals and plants.
Read more »
‘Wildly toxic’ poison used on fire ants is killing native Australian animals, experts warn Senate inquiryFipronil is banned for use on crops in the EU, China, Vietnam and California
Read more »
Dozens of dead wild animals dumped outside Hampshire shopPolice investigate discovery of about 50 hares, an owl and a kestrel at door of Broughton community shop
Read more »