Now, speaking to acclaimed actress Lesley Nicol, who you may recognise from the likes of Downton Abbey, Beecham House and Doc Martin, she’ll be telling me about her work as an animal rights activist, and what she learnt from her recent trip to Vietnam about bear bile farming and the need for it to come to an end.
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00:00 The Vietnamese government agree that this is a shocking practice.
00:06 They don't want it in their country.
00:07 It will be all completely illegal by 2026.
00:12 But they're already closing farms and they're having to build a sanctuary because there's
00:15 about 300 poor bears stuck on these farms.
00:20 So that's the point is that they are trying to rescue as many of these bears.
00:24 So it will be over in Vietnam.
00:26 And the next challenge is to make sure it's over throughout the world.
00:31 Now what exactly is bear bile farming?
00:33 It's where mainly moon bears but also sun and brown bears are held in captivity farms
00:38 in Asia, having their bile extracted from their gallbladders in order for it to be used
00:42 in traditional medicines.
00:43 And despite the availability of inexpensive and effective herbal alternatives, bear bile
00:48 farming continues to have an extremely severe impact on these bears' physical and psychological
00:53 well-being.
00:54 Now, as Animals Asia and the Vietnamese government work together to bring an end to this farming,
01:00 it's hoped that these bears can be rescued and an end will be brought to their suffering.
01:05 Having just spent some time with these amazing animals, feeding them through the bars obviously,
01:09 but feeding them their medication stuck in bananas and honey and they're just standing
01:12 there going, "Ugh!"
01:15 And they've only known pain and fear.
01:19 And I sort of think if it was a human being who'd been through what they've been, you
01:22 wouldn't want to come to the bars and have an interaction.
01:25 You'd go, "No way.
01:27 I'm over.
01:28 I'm not coming near you."
01:29 But they're not.
01:30 I'm not being fanciful.
01:32 They teach us a lot about forgiveness and about growth.
01:36 The children of bear farmers have said, "You can't do this anymore.
01:40 This is just not okay."
01:42 And the farmers see it differently.
01:44 And they say, "Okay, actually, I think I understand."
01:48 Some of them are even fond of these animals, some of them, not all of them, but there are
01:52 more and more people becoming aware and caring about supporting.
01:57 You have to speak up for these guys because they can't.
02:00 They're building this third sanctuary because they need somewhere to take the bears to.
02:05 And the Vietnamese government have said, "We'll help stop this, but where do we put the bears
02:08 and animals Asia?"
02:09 Go, "We'll make a place.
02:10 We'll make a place."
02:12 And she takes them and she puts them into her sanctuary and they have a blessed life.
02:17 They have, you know, they have medication for their ailments.
02:20 They have given a name.
02:22 They have toys.
02:23 They have foraging.
02:24 They have swimming pools.
02:25 Fundraising, education and awareness are all methods of helping bring an end to the suffering
02:31 for these animals.
02:32 And as Leslie says, just talking about the issue and spreading the word could bring about
02:37 a peaceful life for these creatures just as quick as anything else.
02:41 Even talking about it is something to contribute and everybody can talk about it.
02:48 People get frightened, Iona.
02:49 They get scared.
02:50 I don't want to see horrible pictures of bears with pipes sticking out of their abdomen.
02:54 I don't want to see that.
02:55 You know, well, actually, you don't have to see that.
02:57 You will see them rescuing these bears.
02:59 It's the most joyful thing to see.
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