Barry’s sale to help out rare bear

CAIRNS humanitarian and conservationist Barry Jiggins hopes locals will help him save the world’s rarest bear by supporting his garage sale today.

The Garage Sale 4 Gobi Bears on Easter Saturday will be a bric a brac bonanza with Barry also selling donated books, DVDs, clothes, household items and some furniture.

“I have been happily inundated with donations for the garage sale,” Barry said.

The founding president of MongoliAid International said the group had delivered thousands of blankets and shoes to remote communities across Mongolia for nearly 13 years and built or repaired four water projects.

But right now, MongoliAid’s mission is to save the Gobi bear from extinction.

“There are less than 30 individual bears left and they live in a remote corner of a park in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert.

“The Gobi is the only bear in the world that lives in a desert environment and is basically a vegetarian,” Barry said.

“Unfortunately, not too many plants grow in the desert, so most Gobi bears are hungry for most of the time. Water is also scarce and bears need to learn where to find it.”

The Garage Sale 4 Gobi Bears is at 59 Woodward St, Edge Hill from 7am-11am today. To find out more, visit mongoliaid.org.au online.