At the ceremony (Photo: VNA) Funded by the Animals Asia, the 12.7ha establishment will be located at the park. It will have 12 bear houses; 12 semi-wild areas; and sections for administrative works, veterinary hospital, bear food processing, and waste treatment, among other infrastructure facilities.
The centre is designed to be capable of accommodating more than 300 bears received from private farms. It will also conduct activities to raise public awareness on protecting the animal.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said the implementation of the project reflects strong commitments of the Vietnamese Government to international conventions related to biodiversity and wildlife species conservation it has joined.
The country is striving to end the breeding of bears in captivity by households and individuals by the end of 2026, he stated.
Jill Robinson MBE, Animals Asia Founder and CEO, stressed that Vietnam is the first nation to completely ban bear bile farming, with the Government clearly demonstrating its determination and vision to realise the closure of bile farms and rescue all bears in captivity.
She thanked Vietnam for its support to and cooperation with Animals Asia over the past years.
Animals Asia began its bear rescue mission in Vietnam in 2007, saving 252 Asian black and sun bears to date. It worked with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to build and operate the first facility of the centre at the Tam Dao national park in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, which is now caring for 202 rescued bears./.
VNA
