The Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV), on the occasion of Vietnam Bear Day (November 26), organized the launching ceremony for letter writing contest in Hanoi with the aim of encouraging youths to protect bears.
Students at the contest launching ceremony. Photo: baotainguyenmoitruong.vn
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It also offers opportunities for contestants to write letters to bears owners, persuading them to voluntarily hand over their captive bears to rescue centers.
ENV Deputy Director Nguyen Phuong Dung said it is time to exert more pressure on bear owners, forcing them to give up bear captivity.
ENV Deputy Director Nguyen Phuong Dung launched the letter writing contest. Photo: baotainguyenmoitruong.vn
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She also urged the community not to use bear bile, spread the message of protecting bears to those around them, and report bear maltreatments to the free wildlife via hotline 1800-1522.
According to ENV, bears in Vietnam had been kept to extract bile, a digestive fluid used in traditional Oriental medicine. The number of bears in captivity sharply declined between 2005 and October 2018 from 4,300 to below 800. Its survey also showed that bile demand dropped by over 60% between 2009 and 2014.
ENV hopes the contest will attract thousands of entries from now until March 15, 2019. Winners of the competition will be announced and awarded in September the same year.
The contest is part of a long-standing campaign on bear protection held by non- governmental organizations, including ENV, World Animal Protection and FOUR PAWS, in efforts to end bear farming in Vietnam.
