Bear Rescue in Vietnam: Inside the Moon Bear Crisis

Bear bile farming is one of the most prolonged welfare issues in Asia. Bear rescue efforts in Vietnam now focus on retiring the surviving moon bears (Asiatic black bears, Ursus thibetanus) from farms where they have spent years in small cages while bile is extracted from their gallbladders.

The problem

• Bile farming has been officially banned in Vietnam since 2005, and the Vietnamese government has committed to phasing out the practice entirely. Several hundred bears still remain on private farms today.
• Bile is sold for traditional medicine, despite the existence of effective synthetic and plant-based alternatives.
• Bears on bile farms typically suffer from gallbladder infections, broken teeth from biting cage bars, severe psychological trauma, and stunted growth.
• Moon bears can live 25–30 years in sanctuary care once removed from the bile-extraction cycle.

How rescue works

Each rescued bear requires a structured rehabilitation programme: surgical assessment of the gallbladder and teeth, careful nutrition recovery, gradual social reintroduction, and species-appropriate sanctuary enclosures with grass, trees, and pools. None of these bears can return to the wild — they will require lifetime sanctuary care.

What WARN is preparing to do

Working with conservation partners, we are preparing a forested sanctuary site in northern Vietnam with veterinary surgery facilities, climate-controlled dens, and quarantine wings. The programme is designed to accept moon bears as remaining farms are closed under the national phase-out. We need supporter funding to make this happen.