On November 17, at Bach Ma National Park, the Forest Protection Department coordinated with the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) to hold the inauguration ceremony for phase 1 of the Vietnam Bear Rescue Center Facility II project.

Construction started on July 15, 2022, after more than a year of construction, the Center has now completed phase I on schedule. The project has a total investment capital of $ 10.5 million (equivalent to VND 242.5 billion) with non-refundable aid from Animals Asia.

Constructed in the administrative area of Bach Ma National Park with a total area of 12.7 ha, the Vietnam Bear Rescue Center has a scale of 6 double bear homes and 12 semi-wild areas, an administrative and resort area for employees, quarantine area, veterinary hospital area, food processing area for bears, media education area, waste treatment area, utility areas and other infrastructure.

According to the representative of Animals Asia, the project was invested and built in the context that the Vietnam Bear Rescue Center facility I in Tam Dao National Park is operating at full capacity. Phase 1 of the project aims to end the remaining situation involving captive bears of households and individuals across the country by the end of 2026. Consequently ending the illegal farming of bears for bile, contributing to the conservation of bears in Vietnam.

To date, the Center has rescued and received the first 3 bears from Hanoi including the black bears Armstrong and Buzz, and the last captive bear in Hai Duong province - Apollo. Here at the Center, the bears are cared for and given conditions to restore their health and are free to move their bodies and search for food to gradually restore natural instincts that have long degenerated.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Thien, Deputy Director of the Forest Protection Department said, the Vietnam Bear Rescue Center II facility in Bach Ma National Park is expected to rescue and care for over 300 bears. These bears are received from private bear breeding facilities and violations. The final goal is to end bear farming in captive breeding facilities of households and individuals by the end of 2026. Bear species in Vietnam will be sustainably conserved through increased community awareness of bear protection and integration into the research program to release and conserve bears in the wild.

"This is a rescue centre receiving the largest investment and scale of bear rescue in the country. When put into operation, it will achieve the set goals for bear rescue and conservation in Vietnam", Mr Thien said.​