Kien Giang Province, Oct 2015 – Wildlife At Risk (WAR) cooperated with Kien Giang and Soc Trang Provincial Forest Protection Departments to rescue one male Moon Bear (Ursus thibetanus). Weighed roughly 150kg, this Moon Bear is blind.

This Moon Bear has been captured in a local household in My Xuyen Town, Soc Trang Province since 2003. In 2005, the bear was tagged with an electronic device and thus was monitored by the government. This local people decided to hand over the Moon Bear to WAR for rescuing.

Currently, the Moon Bear is being taken cared at Hon Me Wildlife Rescue Station, Kien Giang Province. This Moon Bear might spend the rest of its life here. This is a big challenge for WAR.

Moon Bear is categorised as Endangered (EN) in the Vietnam Red Book. Illegal hunting and capturing for bile exploitation together with habitat loss due to deforestation are main causes for the bears to be endangered in Vietnam.

Bear bile is not a magical cure. There are many alternatives to bear bile that everyone can use to protect bear. 

 Ho Chi Minh City, dated 13 August 2015 – Cu Chi Willdife Rescue Station rescued one female Javan Pangolin weighed roughly 4kg. This individual was in bad condition with serious wound at the tail’s base and the fore left paw were lost. The individual was handed in by a local people from District 2, Ho Chi Minh City thanks to the support of the Save Vietnam Wildlife.

WAR staff conducted immediate healthcheck and surgery to save the pangolin, right when it arrived.

Losing one paw and thus not able to seek for food in the wild, this Pangolin will never be released back to the forest. It will stay for the rest of its life at Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station, for educational purposes.

Pangolin is listed in the Vietnam Red Book as Endanger. It is often hunted for meat and scale for medicinal purposes. Let’s say No to illegal products from pangolin to save it before it is too late.

Ho Chi Minh City, dated 16 January 2015 – Wildlife At Risk (WAR) received 30 individuals of Javan Pangolin, weighed roughly 150kilogramme total of which 12 are male. On previous day, WAR also received two individuals of King Cobra. These endangered wildlife were seized by Ho Chi Minh City Environmental Police and Forest Protection Department from two illegal trading cases and are waiting to be processed

Of the 30 pangolins, one lost a fore paw, one lost a behind paw and one was heavily injured at its tail. All of these endangered wildlife are being recovered at Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station.

The rescue of such a large number of Pangolin this time is a challenge for Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station. Pangolin feeds on ant’s eggs. Each pangolin may eat 500gram of ant’s eggs each day while ant’s eggs are pretty rare and expensive.

Jan Pangolin is categorised as Endangered (EN) in the Vietnam’s Red Book, while King Cobra is in the brink of extinction; it is categorised as Critically Endangered (CR) in the Vietnam’s Red Book. Both species are severely hunted and traded for meat. Pangolin scale could be used as a traditional medicine.

Join us save Pangolin and King Cobra by not consuming illegal products from those species.

Ho Chi Minh City, dated 8^th September 2014. Wildlife At Risk (WAR) received 470 individuals of pet birds including 440 individuals of Common Mara (Acridotheres tristis) and 30 individuals of Red-breasted Parakeet (Psittacala alexxamdri).These wildlife were confiscated from an illegal trade case by Ho Chi Minh City Environmental Police.

All the Common Mara are young. They are not mature enough to be released back to the wild. They will be taken care and rehabilitated at Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station. This is a huge challenge for the Station as the young birds needs much more of human resource in feeding and taking care of them, and capacity of the enclosures is limited. Fortunately, all the Red-breasted Parakeet are adult and much healthier. They will be released back to the wild soon.

Common Mara is famous for its ability to speak while Res-breasted Parakeet is well known for its beautiful plumage. Both of these species are common hunted and traded in Vietnam as pets. Although the two species are not listed in the Vietnam Red Book, populations of these species are steadily declined in the wild.

Please think carefully before purchasing a pet bird. You might be pushing the species to the brink of extinction.

August, 2014 – Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station (WRS) has rescued a baby wild Moon Bear for the first time. The baby lost one paw due to snare trap in the forest of Chu Mom Ray National Park, Kon Tum Province. This male baby Moon Bear is about six month old and weighs roughly 14kg.

At the beginning, the bear was not only exhausted but also very scare to meet any human. It only stayed still in one corner of its enclosure. When seeing any staff, it became totally aggressive. In those days, as the bear used to feed from its mother and not used to drinking meal, WAR staff had to feed milk to the bear with a spoon attached to a long stick. It’s much more complicate and difficult to take care of this wild Moon Bear compare to other bears rescued from bear farms.

After a month staying at Cu Chi WRS, the wound has been healed, and the bear now get used to its new home. It could leak milk on its own and even could taste some soft fruits. The baby Moon Bear will be taken care at Cu Chi WRS for the rest of its live.

Currently, WAR is rescuing over 70 individuals of Moon Bears and Sun Bears at Cu Chi and Hon Me Wildlife Rescue Stations. Rescuing bears is a big challenge as it’s not possible to releasing bears back to the wild. Most of the rescued bears are from bear farms where it is too familiar with being fed. When being releasing back to the forest, it always come to residential areas for food and thus it is captured again. Some bears are missing some parts of their body like the above moon bear and be impossible to survive in the wild.

WAR would like to thanks Dr. Vu Ngoc Thanh and the Douc Langur Foundation for calling and supporting us in saving this baby Moon Bear. We are looking forward for further supports in bear rescuing.