Bears rescued from illegal bile farm in Vietnam

Jill Robinson, founder and chief executive of Animals Asia, feeds a previously rescued black bear at the Moon Bear Rescue Centre, in Chengdu, in China southwest Sichuan province, Friday, Feb. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Ken Teh)

HANOI — Five moon bears have been rescued in Vietnam from an illegal bile extraction farm, in the latest effort by authorities to eradicate a practice widely condemned for its cruelty.

The bears were given up by a farmer in a commune on the outskirts of Hanoi, according to animal rescue group Animals Asia, and since their rescue last week have been taken to a sanctuary and nicknamed "Chronos," "Dawn," "Noon," "Twilight," and "Midnight."

Authorities estimated the five bears may have been on the farm as long as 20 years.

The farming of bears for their bile has been outlawed in Vietnam since 1992, but the practice continues, fueled by demand for bear bile-enriched products.

Digestive bile is forcibly extracted from the gall bladders of bears and sold on the black market for use in traditional medicine. The bears suffer extreme physical and psychological trauma and are often kept in cramped conditions and succumb to disease and malnutrition.

Keeping a bear in a small cage would create mental and physical problems for the animal and bear farmers didn't know how to look after them properly, said Tuan Bendixen, Vietnam director for Animals Asia.

(Reporting by Thinh Nguyen; Writing by Juarawee Kittisilpa; Editing by Martin Petty, Alexandra Hudson)