Big things continue to happen for moon bears!
The amazing charity Free the Bears rescued their 50th bear of 2026, for a start – a little moon bear cub who had been caught up in the illegal wildlife trade. (You may have seen Giles Clark in Bears About the House which was on BBC2 some years ago.)
Free the Bears have sanctuaries in Lao, Cambodia and Vietnam and - amongst other activities - they work like mad to rescue bears brought to their attention who are captive in awful situations such as bear bile farms, or kept as pets. Since they were founded, they have rescued over 1,000 bears, which is fantastic. And these bears are truly well looked after once they have arrived safely at one of the sanctuaries, with all the bear necessities a bear could want. Many are traumatised when they arrive and they are often in a terrible condition - it varies from bear to bear, but they are in the hands of people who really care and who know what they are doing and what the bears need. I love the charity and have been a supporter, a bear carer, for several years now.
Anyway, their most up to date news....
This September, Free the Bears worked with the Lao authorities to bring the bear safely to the Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary. The team has let the cub into its own section of cub nursery and giving the cub lots of space to settle in, and they are keeping things quiet while their new rescue gets used to a new life. Did you know Free the Bears have a way to help them care for smaller bears? You could give a Cub Care Kit donation for £19.00!
This is an important “working together” effort, with the little bear relying on authorities taking action and the teams being ready to act – and supporters making sure that Free the Bears are in a position to take the bear when asked.
And there’s more – Free the Bears have now opened new Bear Intensive Care Unit at their Cambodia Bear Sanctuary! It’s purpose-built to care for bears through illness, injury, rehabilitation and their older years. It’s got 5 indoor dens with outside access so that the bears can do their bear thing outside and yet be close to the vet teams – and the dens’ size can be changed according to an individual bear’s circumstances! This was completed with the aid of the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust and the Fondation Brigiette Bardot. You could help care for an older bear by giving Medication for an elderly bear donation. Free the Bears' video (right) shows that the teams at Free the Bears think of everything to care for those gorgeous bears in their care!
There’s more news for moon bears, as Jimmy’s Farm and Wildlife Park (Jimmy Doherty’s Big Bear Rescue, Channel 4 who have acquired a second series from the Glasgow based Red Sky Productions, I can't wait to see it!) near Ipswich in the UK.
They have just rescued five moon bears (Asiatic black bears) who have now arrived in the UK! They came all the way from a former bear bile farm in South Korea, and travelled over 5,500 miles to reach Suffolk and their new home. It’s been a long six month effort to make this happen, combining Space for the Wild (Jimmy’s Farm & Wildlife Park’s official charity) working in partnership with the Korean Animal Welfare Association.
The Park has already taken on a number of polar bears and of course brown bear Diego and also Brunhilda from a bear orphanage in Romania called Bear Wild. I've got to confess that I've got a bit of a soft spot for Diego - from what I've seen of him on the telly, he looks like a wonderful, wonderful bear and one of these days I want to head off to Suffolk to see him. Find out more here.
Well done to everyone involved, from government at any level willing to take action and actually doing that, to the rescue teams and care teams on the ground, and to supporters giving the support to make sure this could all be achieved! A great team effort!