Vietnam Bear and Vet Team Director, Annemarie Weegenaar, is responsible for the management of 112 bears and 53 staff at Animals Asia's Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre. It's a massive job, but one where safety – of staff, bears and the surrounding population – is always paramount. Here, she explains why.

So moon bears aren't allowed to stay out all night?

At the sanctuary, we lock the bears inside the dens at night for safety reasons. Our sanctuary is located in a beautifully forested valley in the foothills of the Tam Dao National Park. If strong winds or an electrical storm hit the centre during the night, there is a possibility that trees in and outside the enclosures could be brought down and potentially fall on the perimeter fence.

Security is paramount to us, so such a potential escape route, no matter how remote the possibility, is a risk we won't take.

None of our staff currently live directly in the valley where the bears are housed – they stay in national park accommodation a kilometre away. This means that quickly locking bears inside the dens when a storm hits is not yet an option. However, we do plan to build staff accommodation on site in the future. When this is done, we will be able to have all our bears outside at night time too – with the option of coming indoors should they wish, of course. But even then, appropriate safety protocols will be put in place in case storms hit outside of working hours.

How do you tell 112 bears that it's time for bed?

Our bears are conditioned through positive reinforcement to respond to a recall bell. This is used in the morning to call the bears outside, where they are rewarded with food and enrichment. Then at 2pm they are called back inside again with the same bell, this time receiving a mixture of fresh and dried fruit as a reward.

Once the team have set up the enclosure, by scattering more food and enrichment outside, the bears are once again called out. They are called back in the dens for the final time at 5pm and on top of the recall reward, the bears receive a final portion of dog food and browse.

Do the bears happily go in to the dens?

Our bears are very comfortable inside the dens, with each den having four metal hanging baskets which the bears love sleeping in. They even choose to sleep inside the dens during the day sometimes, despite having access to the enclosure. The dens are nothing like their farm cages – they are clean, spacious and and the bears really feel safe and comfortable in them.

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