On the 12th December 2019, our team completed a 260 km journey across Vietnam, from Ha Tinh province to our BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh. They had taken yet another severely abused Asiatic black bear to recover and find sanctuary at last.

Two days before, the Vietnamese police discovered the male bear during a road control. The bear was sedated at the time of the confiscation and had been squeezed into a terribly small cage to hold him in the back seat of a taxi. The Vietnamese authorities reacted quickly and confiscated the bear straight away and transferred him to the police station in Ha Tinh province. Our team from FOUR PAWS Viet was contacted in the night and asked to take over the bear.

The bear was in a critical condition. We have no information on how long he was kept in that tiny cage, unable to breathe properly, severely dehydrated and under sedatives.

Once arrived, the nameless bear reacted very positive to his new, species-appropriate home at the sanctuary and our team does everything they can to help the bear recover. The bear was named Freddie. 

Today, you cannot imagine that Freddie is the same bear that was found in a taxi just a month ago. Freddie is a very friendly, playful and curious bear, and likes all the new enrichment given to him. Freddie has made friends with Mui and Thia La (both were rescued in September 2019 from a bile bear farm) and loves to spend time with them in the outdoor enclosure.

We had a great success at our BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh. Freddie, along with bears James, Thom, Thia La, Mui, Ot (all rescued in September 2019 from a big bile farm in Binh Duong province, Vietnam) and Bac Ha (rescued in September 2019 in Dong Nai province, Vietnam) were socialised together into a comprehensive group! This is currently the biggest group of bears living together in our FOUR PAWS sanctuaries, they enjoy their time in species-appropriate sanctuary.