Vietnam has abandoned plans to evict a rescue center for bears from a national park. Prime Minister Dung said in a statement on January 15th, that the center can stay and continue with a planned expansion.
Vietnam's military ordered the center to relocate citing vague national security concerns. However, the daughter of the park's director, Do Dinh Tien, is one of four shareholders in a planned ecotourism project there. The Prime Minister said that Tien will be "severely dealt with" if violations are discovered.
The sanctuary has been in the park since 2005. The center is home to 104 bears rescued from Asia's bear bile trade. Animals Asia says there are about 2,400 bears living on bile farms in Vietnam, and more than 10,000 in neighboring China. Bear bile is used in some traditional remedies in the region.
Thank the Prime Minister for keeping the bear center opened to rehabilitate bears after their years of trauma from being locked up in small cages and milked for their bile.
SOURCE: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/vietnam-halts-planned-eviction-center-bears-18226163
Vietnam has abandoned plans to evict a rescue center for bears from a national park. Prime Minister Dung said in a statement on January 15th, that the center can stay and continue with a planned expansion.
Vietnam's military ordered the center to relocate citing vague national security concerns. However, the daughter of the park's director, Do Dinh Tien, is one of four shareholders in a planned ecotourism project there. The Prime Minister said that Tien will be "severely dealt with" if violations are discovered.
The sanctuary has been in the park since 2005. The center is home to 104 bears rescued from Asia's bear bile trade. Animals Asia says there are about 2,400 bears living on bile farms in Vietnam, and more than 10,000 in neighboring China. Bear bile is used in some traditional remedies in the region.
Thank the Prime Minister for keeping the bear center opened to rehabilitate bears after their years of trauma from being locked up in small cages and milked for their bile.
