For 10 moon bears in Laos, grass is a brand new feeling.
The Asiatic black bears were rescued from an illegal bile farm by conservation organization Free the Bears and Lao authorities in what the group said was Southeast Asia’s largest ever bear farm rescue.
The facility in Laos had confined 27 bears, aged between 1 and 3 years old, to tiny metal cages in a shed. Free the Bears said the bears are believed to have been taken from the wild as cubs, with their mothers likely killed in the process.
Ten of the 27 bears have now completed quarantine at Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary and have been allowed to explore their enclosure. Free the Bears said it is the first time they have touched grass, foraged freely or climbed trees since they were illegally taken.
Matt Hunt, CEO of Free the Bears, said: “These bears never had the chance to do things as simple as stand on natural ground or feel the sunshine on their face.
“They have experienced many firsts since they arrived at the sanctuary , meeting other bears, eating vegetables, even learning how to regulate their own water intake after years of only being given water once a day.”
Bear bile farming involves keeping live bears to harvest their bile for use in traditional medicine.
While the first group of bears has moved into a forest habitat, the others are still in quarantine as Free the Bears expands the sanctuary.
Having spent their formative years confined to cages, the bears cannot be returned to the wild and will require specialist care for decades.
“This is a very special milestone, but we still have a great deal of work ahead of us,” Hunt said.
“We’re building additional bear houses and forest enclosures as quickly as we can to give these rescued bears a lifelong sanctuary home, but we can only do it with the support of our community.”
Free the Bears is calling on supporters to help fund the urgent £224,000 sanctuary expansion so all 27 rescued bears can move from quarantine into large natural forest habitats in the months ahead.
The group said providing proper care, including nutritious food, daily enrichment and expert veterinary treatment, can cost more than £112,000 per bear across their lifetime.
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