Traditional Medicine

Vietnamese Police Net Biggest Bear Bile Haul

Vietnamese police have arrested a bear owner for the first time after netting a record haul of hundreds of bile bottles in Hanoi, a wildlife protection organisation said Friday.The ASEAN member state is a major hub for the illegal trade in wild animals and bears are kept to drain the bile from their gallbladders for use in traditional medicine.Authorities outlawed bile extraction in Vietnam in 2005, but bear farms were allowed to keep the animals they already had.Those convicted of extracting

4 June 2022

Southeast Asia’s Endangered Primates

There are more than 400 species of primates across the world, and at least 98 species recognised in Southeast Asia. Living primates include humans, monkeys, lemurs and apes. As primates are related, they are genetically similar.

14 December 2020

Vietnam’s Illicit Bear Bile Trade

The current COVID-19 virus health crisis is said to have been passed on by animals to humans. Suspected wildlife pinned for the spread of the pandemic include bats and pangolins – both considered delicacies in China where the virus first emerged.

12 April 2020

Vietnam’s illegal bear bile trade

Five moon bears were rescued in August last year from a bile farm near the city of My Tho, located 70 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City in South Vietnam. The bears, likely captured from the wild, were rescued by the Animals Asia Foundation. They were found confined in barren concrete cells, displaying signs of severe stress after having been in captivity for more than 20 years.

9 May 2019

Saving Vietnam’s bile farming bears

Five moon bears were rescued in August from a bile farm near the city of My Tho, located 70 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City in South Vietnam. The bears, likely captured from the wild, were rescued by the Animals Asia Foundation. They were found confined in barren concrete cells, displaying signs of severe stress after having been in captivity for more than 20 years.

3 September 2018