Visiting Animals Asia Vietnam Bear Sanctuary – Thoughts & Tips
No Bear Left Behind, this is the mantra that drives the efforts of Animals Asia, a philanthropic organization that aims to end the bear bile farming trade in Vietnam and China.
This year, I had a wonderful opportunity to visit Animals Asia bear sanctuary in Tam Dao Province, Vietnam which is home to more than 200 sun and moon bears. These bears are survivors of the illegal bear bile trade in Vietnam and were rescued from different parts of the country.
Many of them have disabilities like blindness, deafness, mobility issues or mental illnesses caused by living in extremely dire conditions in bile farms for many, many years. In bile farms, the bears are kept in tiny cages, they are underfed and repeatedly undergo the extremely painful bile extraction process.
Over the years, Animals Asia with the support of the government has achieved milestones in crushing the bear bile trade in Vietnam. Sadly, there still isa demand for bear bile as a medicinal product and so, the trade survives. For this reason, Animals Asia alongside authorities also work on Demand Reduction Campaigns to shed light on the abuse and cruelty of bile farming.
They educate the public on readily available herbal and synthetic alternatives to bear bile which are equally if not, more beneficial and they also emphasize the dangers of taking unregistered and untested medicinal products like bear bile. Information about the bile trade, heartbreaking and also heartwarming stories and the day-to-day activities of the resident bears are shared by your guide during the tours.
🐻 Animals Asia healthcare team attend to a rescued bear
I’ve signed up for the Animals Asia donorship program sometime ago and learned about the bear center tours. This gave me a good reason to travel to and have a short tour of Vietnam. The tours give you a glimpse into a-day-in-the-life of the resident bears. It was sheer delight to see them in real life. They have a pretty laidback lifestyle there, they receive proper medical care, are well fed, monitored daily and are provided a living space where they can socialize and thrive with fellow bears. You also learn more about Animals Asia and their various advocacies.
🐻 The Animals Asia team preparing to transport a rescued bear to the sanctuary
Donors as well as non donors are welcome to visit. The tours are free but are only done twice a month, usually on weekends. They are guided 1.5 hour tours and slots are limited so you’d need to schedule your visit in advance. But, it isn’t difficult to book the tour as the Animals Asia team are very responsive.
🐻 Our guide giving us a short briefing before the tour
🐻 A sample of a bear snack – bear ice cream
🐻 Our guide showing us some of the bears’ toys
The bear center is located in a mountainous region in Tam Dao province. Coming from Hanoi, it would take between 2.5 to 3 hours to get there. Hiring a private vehicle is the most convenient option but quite costly. If you are able to find someone willing to travel with you and share the cost, that would be great, but take note that they’d also have to register for the tour in advance. Commuting is another option, but it would take longer and would entail transferring from vehicle to vehicle, so I didn’t consider it.
The Bear Sanctuary trip was a whole day activity for me including a side trip to the nearby mountain town of Tam Dao which was a 40 minute uphill drive from the bear center. The area is popular among hikers and mountaineers. Unfortunately, it was extremely foggy on the day of my visit and I wasn’t able to savor the spectacular views from the mountain town.
Nonetheless, I had a wonderful time at the bear sanctuary. AA is doing a fantastic job in providing a safe refuge for these beautiful creatures who have gone through unimaginable suffering. It was priceless to get to see the bears going about their carefree routines and living peacefully here.
Sadly, many other bears remain captive in bile farms across Vietnam and China and so the fight goes on. With that, please consider donating or signing up to become a monthly donor if you are able to, and please help to raise awareness about the the plight of bile bears. Let’s stand for these bears too so that some day ‘NO BEAR LEFT BEHIND’ will become a sweet reality for every little bear.🧸🧸
A great big thank you to Animals Asia for the images above.
❤️️ Links to learn more below.
🐾 More on Animals Asia Vietnam Bear Sanctuary here 🐾
🐾 More on Bear Bile Farming here 🐾
🐻 Sharing a few of my selfies at the bear sanctuary
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