Bear attack in Vietnam leaves one person dead, another injured(

[Guest guest]

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/i_latestdetail.asp?id=31403

 

Bear attack in Vietnam leaves one person dead, another injured(Updated

11:30 a.m.)

 

2005/10/8

HANOI, Vietnam (AP)

 

 

A bear that had been caged for 20 years killed its owner and injured his

servant in southern Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh city, police said Saturday.

 

Tran Hoang Loc, 75, was killed instantly when the bear _ one of two he

kept to extract and sell their bile _ attacked him on Friday, said a

police officer who identified himself only as Truong. Bear bile is used

as traditional medicine in parts of Asia.

 

Loc's servant was injured when he tried to rescue his employer, Truong

said.

 

The female bear lashed out at Loc and threw him to the ground when he

opened the cage to feed the animals, Truong said, adding that soldiers

had been sent in to shoot both bears.

 

Loc had raised the bears for 20 years for their bile, which is used in

traditional medicine in Vietnam and China and said to cure many

ailments. Bear bile farms are illegal in Vietnam, but the government

rarely cracks down on them.

 

An estimated 2,300 to 2,400 bears are held captive for bile in Vietnam.

Animal rights activists say the bile is extracted using cruel methods,

and have urged the government to end the practice.

 

Earlier this year, the government began to tag captive bears with

microchips and require owners to register with local authorities as part

of plans to phase out bear farming.

 

The registration and microchipping are also aimed at helping officials

monitor captive bears' welfare and prevent the capture of wild animals.

 

Bear owners will be allowed to keep their animals until they die, but

must report dead or missing bears to government regulatory bodies,

officials have said.

 

 

--

Dave Neale

UK Director

Animals Asia Foundation

 

ANIMALS ASIA HAS A BRAND NEW WEBSITE!

Find out more about our historic China Bear Rescue and Friends or Food? projects

by visiting the Animals Asia Foundation website at http://www.animalsasia.org

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I guess I have no sympathy for the old man who was killed by the bear for

the years of suffering the poor animal has to endure. In the end the poor

bear was shot dead but at least its misery ended.

All those ignorant people who believe in the bear gall remedy!

Yitze