May 27, 2020 – A female cub was only a few months old when it was offered for sale by illegal wildlife traders on the border between Vietnam and Laos. Asiatic black bears are commonly smuggled, bred, sold, and farmed for their stomach bile in Vietnam. This bear cub was luckily spared from a gruesome fate due to the quick intervention of some concerned citizens and government agencies. 

The cub that was handed over to the Vietnamese authorities in Son La province last week and is now in safe hands. FOUR PAWS International was then quickly called upon to assist in providing health care and ultimately bring the cub, who was named Mochi, to its BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh.

FOUR PAWS commends the Vietnamese authorities and its local partner Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV), whom the family reached out to first, for reacting so quickly and ensuring Mochi was taken to a species-appropriate home. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the rescue followed strict safety precautions. A small FOUR PAWS team made the four-and-a-half-hour drive from BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh in Northern Vietnam to Son La province where Mochi was.

Mochi is at a vulnerable age as her immune system is not fully developed yet, so the team at BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh will provide her with all the care she needs to grow into a healthy bear. Sadly it is unlikely Mochi will be able to be released back into the wild, so she will remain at the sanctuary.

The legal and illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam is a billion-dollar industry which sees animals taken from the wild and bred in captivity to be sold in markets, restaurants, online and used in pseudo-traditional medicines throughout the country.

Vietnam’s government has recently requested a directive to stop the illegal wildlife trade and wild animals used for human consumption following the news that the COVID-19 outbreak likely came from the consumption of wild animals in China. Until this legislation is passed and real change is implemented, millions of wild animals like Mochi will continue to suffer.

In recent years, the number of bears on bear farms in Vietnam has dramatically declined from approximately 936 in 2017 to 414 currently being held on private bear farms.

With its bear sanctuary in Ninh Binh, FOUR PAWS is supporting the Vietnamese government to end bile bear farming in Vietnam and provide a species-appropriate home for up to 100 rescued bears once all construction is finished. Including new arrival Mochi, the bear sanctuary is currently home to 32 Asiatic black bears.