etnam’s race to build nuclear power plants has barely skipped a beat

09 that also expressly prohibits the commercial farming of protected species.



But conservation organizations continue to uncover illegal farms through undercover operations across the country. The Hong Kong-based charity Animals Asia has rescued 73 bears from farms in Vietnam in the past five years. Bears are kept in small 'crush cages' that allow easy access to the abdomen for bile extraction. The animals are drugged and restrained with ropes before being jabbed in the abdomen with a long needle until the gall bladder is located. The wounds usually lead to scarring and infection, causing serious discomfort and sometimes death due to blood poisoning. Bile is extracted twice a day.



According to reports by animal activists, bears kept at bile farms are known to chew off their own paws, lose their fur and have stunted growth due to malnutrition. Many animals have their teeth and claws removed so they do not damage themselves. The practice continues 'because of profit' despite ongoing efforts to stop it, Nguyen Manh Cuong, deputy head of Vietnam's Tourism Administration, told the German Press Agency dpa. Local demand is also to blame, especially as the urban population gets richer, according to Thomas Osborn, the greater Mekong programme coordinator for the animal conservation group TRAFFIC. 'With increasing wealth in urban centres, much of the trade in wildlife products is an issue of status rather than necessity,' he said. 'Well-off people, or people in high positions, tend to take colleagues and friends to wild meat restaurants and buy expensive wildlife products to impress them.'



Bile extracted from bear gall bladders has been used in traditional Chinese medicines for more than 3,000 years to treat a variety of health problems, such as liver disease, burns, fever, internal bleeding and stomach ulcers. It has subsequently been adopted by Korea, Japan, Vietnam and other countries. In November, a survey of 3,000 people by Education for Nature, a Vietnamese partner to the World Society for the Protection of Animals, found nearly a quarter of those interviewed did not know bear-bile farming was illegal and 70 per cent said they would use bear bile for medicinal purposes. According to the organization, Vietnamese people used to pay 10 dollars per cubic centimetre of bear bile, but the price has dropped to 1 to 2 dollars because of its wide availability. Many bear owners have been looking to the international market to regain profits.







Despite Japan’s Crisis, Vietnam Aims to Win Region’s Nuclear Race
IPS 23 March 2011



Vietnam’s race to build nuclear power plants has barely skipped a beat despite th
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