🇻🇳 Vietnam Wildlife Welfare

Bear Bile Farming, Wildlife Trade, and Conservation Challenges

Vietnam's Wildlife Welfare Crisis

Vietnam sits at the epicenter of the global wildlife trade crisis. Its position in Southeast Asia, combined with large consumer markets for traditional medicine ingredients and wildlife products, make it one of the world's most significant demand countries for trafficked species. At the same time, Vietnam's remaining forests harbor significant biodiversity including saola, Delacour's langur, Vietnamese pheasants, and populations of tigers, elephants, and pangolins — species under severe poaching pressure.

Wildlife Trade Scale: Vietnam is among the top consumer countries for wildlife products including rhino horn, pangolin scales, tiger parts, bear bile, and exotic wildlife. The country has been identified by TRAFFIC and CITES as requiring urgent action on demand reduction and enforcement. Despite tightening laws, enforcement remains inconsistent and corruption impedes prosecution.

Bear Bile Farming: A Welfare Priority

Vietnam's bear bile farming industry — where Asiatic black bears (moon bears) and sun bears are kept in cages and subjected to repeated bile extraction from their gallbladders — represents one of the most severe welfare harms associated with traditional medicine. Animals suffer chronic pain, infection, severe psychological distress from confinement, and physical deterioration from the extraction procedure.

Current Status: Vietnam banned new bear farms in 1992 and bear bile extraction in 2005, but existing registered bears were allowed to remain on farms. The bear population on farms has declined from approximately 4,000 in 2005 to under 700 by 2023 — largely through natural mortality, though some have been transferred to sanctuaries. The remaining bears continue to suffer on aging farms.
Four Paws and Animals Asia: International organizations including Animals Asia and Four Paws have established bear sanctuaries in Vietnam providing lifetime care for bears transferred from bile farms. Negotiations with farm owners to transfer remaining bears are ongoing. The Moon Bear Rescue program at Tam Dao Sanctuary provides high-quality care including large forest enclosures, species-appropriate diet, and veterinary treatment for rescued bears.

Pangolin Trafficking

Vietnam is both a consumption country and major transit hub for pangolin trafficking. All eight pangolin species are protected under CITES, yet seizures of pangolin scales and live animals in Vietnam number in the tonnes annually. Pangolins suffer extremely in trafficking conditions — the stress of capture and confinement causes rapid deterioration, with high mortality in transit. Vietnam's harboring of pangolin trafficking networks has global conservation implications.

Enforcement Progress: Vietnam has strengthened penalties for wildlife trafficking in recent years. Some high-profile prosecutions of traffickers have occurred. Confiscated pangolins — when still alive — go to rescue centers. However, demand reduction remains the primary challenge; without reducing consumer demand in Vietnam and China, enforcement alone cannot stop trafficking at source.

Tiger Farming and Consumption

Vietnam has tiger farms — facilities keeping captive tigers whose parts may enter trade — and consumer demand for tiger bone wine and other products. This demand contributes to pressure on wild tiger populations globally. The welfare conditions in tiger farms are typically very poor: small enclosures, poor nutrition, inadequate social housing for asocial species. Vietnam is a signatory to CITES but implementation of tiger trade restrictions has been inconsistent.

Saola: A Conservation Mystery

The saola — discovered by science only in 1992 and never photographed in the wild by camera trap since 2013 — may be extinct or survive in tiny numbers in Vietnam and Laos's Annamite Mountains. This enigmatic bovid represents one of the world's most urgent conservation emergencies. Snares set for other animals (particularly wild pigs and deer) are the primary documented threat. Saola Foundation snare removal programs work with local communities to reduce snaring pressure in potential saola habitat.

Demand Reduction Success Stories

Rhino Horn Campaigns: Demand reduction campaigns targeting Vietnamese rhino horn consumers — particularly "Chi campaign" and initiatives by WWF, WildAid, and Traffic — have shown measurable results in attitude surveys, with growing proportions of Vietnamese consumers reporting reduced intention to purchase rhino horn. These campaigns demonstrate that demand reduction through culturally resonant messaging can shift consumer behavior even in markets with deeply embedded traditional medicine use.

Vietnam's younger, urban population shows significantly different attitudes toward wildlife consumption than older generations, offering hope for demand reduction over time if campaigns continue.