Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) has taken delivery of a very special cargo at its new Vietnam rescue centre.
Three tiny Moon Bear cubs – rescued from a secret compartment under a passenger bus traveling from Laos into Vietnam – have become the first bears rescued and brought to the soon-to-be-completed sanctuary at Tam Dao near Hanoi.
Mischievous little Olly and his equally impish step-sisters, Mara and Mausi, weighed just over two kilos each when the AAF team picked them up. They were very underweight but are now on five daily feedings of milk formula, plus they are taking a little fruit twice a day. They are gaining weight and strength and we can safely say that they are now out of danger.
Now the rescue team is working overtime to construct a suitable enclosure for the cubs until the sanctuary’s basic infrastructure is completed. This will include a quarantine area, surgical facilities, dens, semi-natural outside enclosures and rehabilitation areas.
Animals Asia Founder and CEO, Jill Robinson said that, although unplanned, the cubs’ arrival could not have come at a better time. “We had hoped that by now we would have started our major rescue of 200 Moon Bears from bile farms in Vietnam, but because of construction delays, we have had to postpone the first intake of bears until later in the year. This has been both frustrating and heartbreaking, but these little fellows have helped to bridge the gap and will give our staff and supporters a wonderful boost as we wait for the caged bears to arrive.
”It's tragic that they can't be with their mother and awful to think of what has happened to her – but now they’ll be safe and sound with us at the sanctuary for the rest of their lives. I hate to think what might have happened to them if the smuggler had been successful – most probably they were destined for a bile farm and life of torture.”
In 2005, after seven long years of negotiations, Animals Asia secured a commitment from the Vietnamese authorities to phase out bear bile farming, and in 2006, signed an agreement with Ms Robinson to start closing down the farms and hand over 200 bears to AAF’s rescue centre. Bear farming has been technically illegal in Vietnam since 1992, but nothing concrete has been done to stop the practice until now – partly because there was simply nowhere to put the rescued bears. Now a sanctuary is taking shape in a beautiful valley in the buffer zone of the stunning Tam Dao National Park near Hanoi. The rescue centre will eventually be the focus of the foundation’s campaign to end bear farming, with an education centre, viewing area and herb garden for visitors.
For more information about Animals Asia Foundation or how you can help save the Moon Bears visit www.animalsasia.org
China Update
With just over one year until the Olympics begin in Beijing, AAF is ramping up its campaign to end bear farming in China by launching a global banner signing campaign. You are invited to add your name on a huge banner that will be traveling to capital cities around Australia over the next few weeks before being presented to the Chinese Embassy in Canberra on 8 August (the Olympics commence on 8/08/2008). For details of where and when the banner will be in your State go to www.animalsasia.org or call 1800 666 004.
Every signature added to the banner will symbolise one of the thousands of Moon Bears trapped on brutal farms throughout China. Please join AAF and help end bear farming forever.