Guest Comments by the Animals Asia Foundation

ACROSS ASIA -- Actress Maggie Q, the star of popular movies like Three Kingdoms and Mission Impossible III, has spoken out in the Animals Asia Foundation’s campaign to end Vietnam’s cruel bear-bile industry.

Maggie, the AAF’s Vietnam moon-bear-rescue ambassador, recorded an impassioned 30-second community-service announcement for broadcast on major television channels like Discovery and CNN in the Asia-Pacific region. She recorded the message in Los Angeles, California, where she lives with her rescue dogs.

The actress also participated at the recent opening of a new bear house and enclosures at the AAF’s Moon Bear Rescue Centre near Hanoi. Together with Vietnamese and foreign-embassy officials, she watched newly rescued bears play for the first time on grass.

“We’re thrilled to have Maggie on board and so grateful that she takes time to help the bears,” said Animals Asia founder Jill Robinson. “We couldn’t ask for a better ambassador to represent our cause in Vietnam. Maggie is totally committed to raising awareness about the cruelty of bear farming and about the many safer, more effective and cheaper herbal alternatives to bile.”

Maggie Q said: “I see bear-bile farming as a stain on history that can be wiped clean if we all work together to end the awful trade. The Vietnamese Government has come a long way in officially banning bear farming, but it needs to ensure the ban is enforced.

“It’s not just officials who must act. We can all do our bit. Consumers of bear bile can switch to herbal or synthetic alternatives, teenagers can tell their parents about the cruelty of bear farming, and traditional medicine practitioners can refuse to sell products made from endangered species like moon bears.”

AAF Vietnam director Tuan Bendixsen says Maggie Q’s message will capture the attention of millions of viewers and raise awareness. Vietnam outlawed bile farming back in 1992, but farmers still harvest from about 4,000 bears.

So far, the AAF has rescued 26 bears in Vietnam. Its new bear sanctuary has roomy dens in two rows that open into large semi-natural enclosures, one for moon bears and one for smaller sun bears. The enclosures, with rock pools, trees and climbing frames, encourage the bears’ natural behavior.

Working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, plus the Forest Protection Department, the AAF continues to develop its 12-hectare sanctuary in the Chat Dau Valley within the Tam Dao National Park. Eventually, the facility will house 200 bears.

For more information: www.animalsasia.com

ARCHIVES