Kien Giang Province, Oct 2015 – Wildlife At Risk (WAR) cooperated with Kien Giang and Soc Trang Provincial Forest Protection Departments to rescue one male Moon Bear (Ursus thibetanus). Weighed roughly 150kg, this Moon Bear is blind.
This Moon Bear has been captured in a local household in My Xuyen Town, Soc Trang Province since 2003. In 2005, the bear was tagged with an electronic device and thus was monitored by the government. This local people decided to hand over the Moon Bear to WAR for rescuing.
Currently, the Moon Bear is being taken cared at Hon Me Wildlife Rescue Station, Kien Giang Province. This Moon Bear might spend the rest of its life here. This is a big challenge for WAR.
Moon Bear is categorised as Endangered (EN) in the Vietnam Red Book. Illegal hunting and capturing for bile exploitation together with habitat loss due to deforestation are main causes for the bears to be endangered in Vietnam.
Bear bile is not a magical cure. There are many alternatives to bear bile that everyone can use to protect bear.