Crackdown on bear-bile tours in Vietnam welcomed
Crackdown on bear-bile tours in Vietnam welcomed
Hanoi - The illegality of bear-bile farming in Vietnam has failed to stamp out the practice in the past six years, but a renewed government push to crack down on bear-bile tourism has hope rising at an animal protection organization.
The World Society for the Protection of Animals welcomed instructions issued last week by the National Tourism Administration saying travel companies that offer bear-bile tours risk losing their business licences.
According to the London-based society, the biggest hot spot for the practice is Ha Long City, one of Vietnam's most famous tourism destinations. As part of their package tours to the country, visitors, especially from South Korea, witness extractions and purchase bile to transport illegally back to their homes.
The move to tackle companies that offer the tours was 'fantastic news,' Dave Eastham, the society's project leader, said. 'I'm confident that it will be followed through,' he said.
The move demonstrated that the government saw the damage bear farming is causing their tourist industry.
'Vietnam is the only country in the world so far that wants to bring an end to the practice,' he said.
Bear bile farming is still legal in South Korea and China.
Vietnam set the pace for a change in attitude to bear-bile farming back in 2005 when the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development committed to phasing out the practice. Around 4,000 bears in captivity were implanted with microchips to help identify any new bears added illegally. Owners were warned not to tap the animals for bile.
However, farmers who already had captive bears were allowed to maintain them as tourist attractions.
Several high-profile cases involving South Korean tourists allegedly caught extracting bile from animals held on farms prompted an amendment to the Biodiversity Law in 2009 that also expressly prohibits the commercial farming of protected species.
But conservation organizations continue to uncover illegal farms through undercover operations across the country. The Hong Kong-based charity Animals Asia has rescued 73 bears from farms in Vietnam in the past five years.
Bears are kept in small 'crush cages' that allow easy access to the abdomen for bile extraction. The animals are drugged and restrained with ropes before being jabbed in the abdomen with a long needle until the gall bladder is located. The wounds usually lead to scarring and infection, causing serious discomfort and sometimes death due to blood poisoning. Bile is extracted twice a day.
According to reports by animal activists, bears kept at bile farms are known to chew off their own paws, lose their fur and have stunted growth due to malnutrition. Many animals have their teeth and claws removed so they do not damage themselves.
The practice continues 'because of profit' despite ongoing efforts to stop it, Nguyen Manh Cuong, deputy head of Vietnam's Tourism Administration, told the German Press Agency dpa.
Local demand is also to blame, especially as the urban population gets richer, according to Thomas Osborn, the greater Mekong programme coordinator for the animal conservation group TRAFFIC.
'With increasing wealth in urban centres, much of the trade in wildlife products is an issue of status rather than necessity,' he said. 'Well-off people, or people in high positions, tend to take colleagues and friends to wild meat restaurants and buy expensive wildlife products to impress them.'
Bile extracted from bear gall bladders has been used in traditional Chinese medicines for more than 3,000 years to treat a variety of health problems, such as liver disease, burns, fever, internal bleeding and stomach ulcers. It has subsequently been adopted by Korea, Japan, Vietnam and other countries.
In November, a survey of 3,000 people by Education for Nature, a Vietnamese partner to the World Society for the Protection of Animals, found nearly a quarter of those interviewed did not know bear-bile farming was illegal and 70 per cent said they would use bear bile for medicinal purposes.
According to the organization, Vietnamese people used to pay 10 dollars per cubic centimetre of bear bile, but the price has dropped to 1 to 2 dollars because of its wide availability. Many bear owners have been looking to the international market to regain profits. The Benefits of Timberland Boots Australias Best the Minelab Metal Detector Experience the Breathtaking Attractions with Kashmir Tour Packages China, Vietnam mull construction of visa-free tourism zone Unveil the Adventure of Wildlife Tour in India Mekong Tourism Forum 2011 to Showcase Emerging Destinations Witness the Empyreal Holiday with Beach Tour in India Island nations on the frontlines of climate change American Mobsters - The Hudson Dusters Street Gang An Online Guide About Travel Insurance India Countries That Had the Highest Number of Winners in DV-2011 All about the outskirts of London for commuters and the positives of having a London office IRCTC Tourism and PNR Status