BinhDuong (VNA) – Two Asian black bears which were kept in a local housein Thuan An town of the southern province of Binh Duong were handed over tocompetent agencies on March 11.
The bears, one maleand one female, had been implanted withmicrochips and kept in cages for 15 years. The owner voluntarilyrelinquished the animals.
A medicalexamination showed that the bears have severely decayed teeth and suffered fromliver and gall problems. They will be sent to a bear conservation centre in thenorthern province of Ninh Binh for special care in the coming time.
Statistics from theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that there were 317 bearsin Binh Duong in 2005, but the figure strongly declined to 155 in 2014.
Theprevious year, 19 bears were voluntarily handed over to relevant agencies andorganisations in Vietnam, reducing the number of captive bears to about 750 – asignificant decrease from the over 4,300 in 2005.–VNA