Three Vietnamese bile bears rescued in under 28 hours
The impromptu rescue of three nameless Asiatic black bears
After months of work led by our local partners 'Education for Nature Vietnam', three illegally kept bears from a bile bear farm in Nghe An province were confiscated by the authorities on 30th of May. For our team in Vietnam, this rescue came unexpectedly, and they only had a few hours to prepare. The mission - carried out under intense pressure - was an extreme experience for everyone involved.
Fortunately, the three bears are now safe in our BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh!
How they got there names?
The two female bears were named Lulu and Lili by FOUR PAWS Viet. For the male bear we asked the FOUR PAWS facebook community for their help to pick one of these two options for the male:
- Lac meaning “peanut”
- Em meaning “small”
His character is as followed:
14th of June: He has really settled a lot over the past couple of days, and his playful personality is showing through. He loves water and having showers so much that it is difficult to clean his cage and fill his water bowl because he continuously dive-bombs the hosepipe. He likes to put his whole face in the water bowl to drink. He loves banana leaves and the hessian bags we give him for bedding, but they are always really scary at first, and he slaps at them with his paws until he realises they aren’t going to hurt him, and then he is rolling around on the floor with them. He steals hessian bags through the bars also from his neighbour Lulu.
Now all bears have names: Lili, Lulu and Lac
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Update May 2026
From the moment the three bears arrived at BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh, our team noticed the strong bond between them. Having already shown such positive behaviour during quarantine, they were quickly introduced in the bear house; a comforting step after such a traumatic start.
When they first arrived, all three bears were absolutely terrified. Just juveniles, they would still have been with their mother in the wild.
Today, Lili is doing great. She remains especially close to Lac, often foraging side by side and curling up together in the same den. Recently, when another bear in the group began bothering Lac, Lili calmly stepped in — simply placing herself between them was enough to diffuse the situation.
While her bond with Lac is strong, Lili has also been spending more time with Lulu lately, it’s lovely to see her friendships growing.
Her caretaker, Vũ Thị Bích Liên, shares:
“Lili absolutely loves tearing apart banana trees to get to the soft insides! A new platform in the enclosure has also become her lookout spot, especially in the early mornings, where she enjoys watching over the group.”
Lili is a big fan of enrichment too, with favourites including burlap sacks, bamboo tubes, kong toys, frozen coconuts, and ice buckets. She’s particularly curious when it comes to scent-based treats such as jam, peanut butter, shrimp paste, yoghurt and more.
As the weather warms up… Lili has discovered the joy of the pool, making quite the splash!
The saddest bears in Vietnam
This case demonstrates the ongoing problem of illegally kept bears in Vietnam, and that authorities must continue their efforts to ensure they are found and immediately confiscated - to ultimately bring an end to all bear farming in Vietnam.
More information about our work in Vietnem: #saddestbears