A female tourist from Sydney spent $4,300 on a 13-day experience in Vietnam, including a “full of anticipation” meeting with a group of bears at the Tam Dao rescue center.
At the end of March, Anabel Dean, a female tourist from Sydney, Australia, shared about her 13-day trip to Vietnam. One of the experiences that left the most emotions for her was the trip to the bear rescue center located in Chat Dau valley, Tam Dao national park, Vinh Phuc.
Anabel loves animals. In Sydney, she raised money to support the bears in Taronga Zoo. Therefore, she was willing to spend more than 4,300 USD for a 13-day experience tour in Vietnam, including a “full of anticipation” meeting with bears at the bear rescue center.
Anabel took a car for more than an hour from Hanoi to get to the rescue center in Tam Dao. This is a modern bear rescue place in Asia, part of a project of the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF), established with the purpose of rescuing bears in captivity for bile and bringing them back. natural again. At the end of 2010, the reserve completed 4 bear houses, including 2 wild areas and 2 quarantine areas.
Another important goal of the center is to raise public awareness about wildlife conservation and the natural environment. This goal is integrated with the national park’s activities on environmentally friendly tourism, helping visitors see bears in the natural environment with their own eyes, and realize the need to care for and conserve bears as well as protect them. reduce demand for bear bile or bear products.
The first bear that Anabel approached was QQ, a black bear, curled up in an iron cage. QQ likes to eat chopped pumpkin and play with the hammock. The animal had been illegally kept in captivity for 24 years for its bile and had just been rescued and brought to the center a few days before Anabel’s visit. A veterinarian is patting QQ through the bars. Anabel compared the doctor “like a god with small actions but creating a miracle”.
Anabel’s guide on this tour is Jill Robinson, founder of Animals Asia and the world’s leading expert on bear bile farming. Jill flew from Hong Kong to Vietnam to open a second rescue area in Bach Ma National Park late last year.
In 1998, Jill founded AAF to oversee the construction of bear sanctuaries in China and Vietnam. To date, AFF has rescued nearly 700 illegally kept bears.
Currently, the Bear Rescue Center in Tam Dao is taking care of 199 Asian black bears. Every day, the animals live in grassy enclosures with pools, trees, tunnels and swings. This construction is intended to stimulate and support bears to return to normal life after a long period of being kept in captivity, collecting bile and experiencing many diseases such as arthritis, heart disease, broken limbs and psychological fear. No bear can return to living a wild life with natural behaviors. “They need special care for the rest of their lives,” Jill said.
Taking bear bile to make medicine is no longer strange in Asia, and is considered “liquid gold”. However, up to now there have not been many documents proving for sure that bear bile is truly beneficial to human health.
“Let me show you something,” Jill said and led Anabel along a winding path to the bear hospital. Both dressed in sterile clothes and leg wraps and entered the room divided by a metal door. Inside is Barli, a bear playing with a coconut. Barli has just undergone a surgery. Veterinarians cared for Barli for years but her gallbladder could not be cured. The Barli black bear is one of the gentlest bears, but raising bears for bile has seriously injured the animal. The staff here are preparing for the worst.
Anabel said Barli was euthanized a few days later, buried in the bear cemetery, which was also the last place Anabel visited before leaving the center.
The center is about 70 km from Hanoi, suitable for a short day trip or 2 days 1 night. Chat Dau Valley is open to visitors every day. However, the rescue center is only open on 2 Saturdays of every month, visitors should contact the national park management board in advance. Tours are guided by staff at the center and give presentations in English and Vietnamese. Admission is free, but visitors can freely donate and buy souvenirs to support bear care. In addition to the rescue area, visitors can continue to explore nature in the Chat Dau valley – an area designed by the National Park as an educational sightseeing area combined with eco-tourism.