IN CARE BEARS
How animal lovers are creating safe homes for cubs rescued from poachers
MARY the sun bear was destined for a terrible life, kept captive after poachers killed her mum in the wild. Luckily for Mary, she was rescued after being spotted on the back of a truck for sale into the illegal wildlife trade.
This documentary follows the plight of some of the bears that are rescued as experts fight to save them.
Many bears are valued for their bile, which is used in Asian medicine, resulting in illegal bear bile farms.
Matt Hunt, CEO of Free The Bears brought Mary home to give the fragile and malnourished five-month-old cub round-the-clock care.
He has help from conservationist Giles Clark, who is already on a huge mission, to take on the illegal wildlife trade and also help build a bear sanctuary in Laos, Southeast Asia.
Giles says: “We need to rescue hundreds of bears from absolutely horrendous conditions but at the same time, build homes for them.”
Mary, who needs to be fed highly fatty formula every two hours to build up her strength, will go to live at the sanctuary as soon as it’s ready. In the meantime, she’s quite happy padding around the house exploring.
We also meet three-year-old brothers Tong and Nunge, who were captured at only a few weeks old and kept in a small cage. Their mother was killed, and they were sold as pets.
And Giles travels to northern Laos to rescue two vulnerable five-month-old moon bear cubs, and also embarks on a rescue mission to save two aggressive adult moon bears.