15 Best Things to Do in Nong Khiaw, Laos (2024)
April 28, 2024
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Bear sanctuary Vietnam: Asiatic black bears playing in the sanctuary in Ninh binh
Bear Sanctuary Ninh Binh is operated by Four Paws International, a global animal welfare organization that was established in Vienna in 1988 by Heli Dungler.
The sanctuary in Ninh Binh is operational since 2017 and they received the first bears that same year.
Aside from caring for bears and offering them comfortable outdoor enclosures, dens where they can rest and daily food Four Paws also strives to end bear bile farming in Vietnam through their “#saddest bears” campaign.
Most bears that arrive at the sanctuary have been confiscated or saved from bear bile farms, however, some of them are also rescued from the illegal wildlife trade.
Here is a short youtube-movie about the Sanctuary.
Happy bears at Ninh binh Bear Sanctuary
Bear bile farming is practiced in Asia because of the medicinal feature of bear bile, known to aid or cure human liver and gall blatter diseases. It has been used in traditional Asian medicine for thousands of years.
The bears which are primarily used as bile bears are the Asiatic black bears and sun bears. At the bear bile farms, these bears live their whole lives in small cages, a lot of them without ever seeing the light of day.
At the age of ten years old, their productive years for producing bear bile or over, and after that, they are often slaughtered for their meat, fur, and paws.
The bile can be extracted from the bears through various surgical procedures like putting a permanent catheter in the gall bladder or repeated drainage by puncturing the bladder.
Bear bile farming is not only practiced in Vietnam but also in other countries like China, Laos, and Myanmar.
The sad thing is that, although the medicinal benefits of bear bile have been proven, there are synthetical and herbal alternatives with the same medicinal effect.
So there’s absolutely no human life-saving need to justify the abuse of these bears in any way.
There are two ways to explore the bear sanctuary depending on your wishes:
The skywalk is a 300-meter-long bridge that is constructed above the outside enclosures of the bears. From the skywalk, you can see the bears play, wrestle and wade in the pools.
The skywalk at Bear Sanctuary Ninh Binh
At the time of my visit, there were about fifteen bears outside foraging for food, wrestling, or relaxing. At the skywalk, you can also find an educational exhibition about bear species in Vietnam and stories about specific bears in the sanctuary.
The best time to visit the skywalk is between 9 A.M. and 10 A.M. or 1 P.M. and 2 P.M. because those are the feeding times of the bears.
The guided tour provides a more in-depth experience at the sanctuary. One of the guides will take you near the enclosures of the bears and tell you all about the life of the bears in the sanctuary and how they got there.
There’s also a possibility to visit the kitchen of the bears where their daily food is prepared with lots of love and according to their dietary needs.
Furthermore, there’s an attractive souvenir shop on the premises and a cozy vegetarian restaurant serving Vietnamese food.
Here are the websites I personally use whenever I travel to Vietnam:
Booking.com: For the best cheap guesthouses, homestays or small hotels
Hostelworld: To find the best hostels located in the cities
Homestay: For unique immersive homestays in the cities as well as in the Vietnamese countryside
12GO and Bookaway: The best transport websites for long-distance buses and train travel in Vietnam
GRAB: for taxi rides in cities and nearby attractions
Skyscanner: For affordable flights to Vietnam
Eatwith: Dine with locals inside their home for an immersive foodie experience
Withlocals: Experience cities in Vietnam with local people that show you around. This is a good idea if you want to stray off the beaten path!
Viator and Get Your Guide: For (vegan) food tours, street food tours, and tours in general
Get your Visa for Vietnam online through the Evisa website
If you’re looking for travel insurance, the one with the best benefits online is without a doubt Heymondo! It’s very easy to ask for a quote on the website and if you book with this link you’ll get 5% off!
Get access to mobile data straight away when entering the country with a Vietnam E-sim or an Asialink E-sim when traveling through multiple countries.
The sanctuary is open every day of the week and can be visited from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.
The skywalk experience only costs 50 000 VND (€ 2) and a guided tour will set you back 150 000 VND (€ 6). For children, the skywalk is only 30 000 VND, and the guided tour is 100 000 VND.
Bear Sanctuary Ninh Binh is located only 105 kilometers from the center of Hanoi and can easily be visited on a half-day trip from the capital.
It is however more feasible to visit the sanctuary while staying in the area around Ninh Binh. From there, you can find the sanctuary on route to Cuc Phuong National Park. The national park is a popular day trip from Ninh Binh.
The endangered primate rescue center in Cuc Phuong National Park
At Cuc Phuong, you can find another sanctuary, housing endangered monkey species and a turtle conservation center.
Unfortunately, there is no public transport going to Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary or Cuc Phuong. The best thing to do is to book a private driver for the day that can take you to Cuc Phuong National Park and make a stopover on the way to the bear sanctuary.
As far as I know, there are no tours starting from Ninh Binh and Tam Coc that make a stop at the Ninh Binh bear sanctuary. At the time of our visit in late December, we were the only ones there.
The best thing you can do to support the sanctuary is to visit them. All the entrance fees and income from the souvenir shop and from the restaurant go straight to taking care of the premises and the bears.
If going to Vietnam is not on your bucket list, you can also make a donation. There are various options to choose from. You can opt to donate money to the sanctuary directly by bank transfer or send them much-needed items like food and other supplies. The wishlist changes every few weeks and you can see an updated version on the website of Bear Sanctuary Ninh Binh.
Lastly, you can also decide on giving a donation to support the global organization of Four Paws International. Donations can be made as a one-time gift or a yearly or monthly contribution.
You can check out the different options for donation on the website of Four Paws International.
→ Also read: Bich Dong Pagoda in Tam Coc: A Travelers’ Guide
Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions or drop me a message through my contact page.
Also, don’t forget to check out my resources page with my favorite booking platforms and tips to start planning your trip. Additionally, have a look at my favorite travel gear if you want to pack more consciously!
ENJOY!
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Hi! I am Annelies and this is Travelers & Dreamers, a blog about conscious travel which means traveling in a more mindful way, with a positive impact on the world and yourself!
On this website, I cover different topics like slow travel, plant-based food guides, responsible travel, sustainable packing, eco-travel, and more!
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