BEAR NECESSITIES

An Australian charity leads the way in wildlife rescue in Southeast Asia, with Free the Bears’ sanctuaries giving these creatures – poached from the wild and rescued from cages – a safe future, writes Julie Miller.

While lockdowns may have brought tourism to a halt across Southeast Asia during the pandemic, another industry boomed – that of illegal wildlife trafficking, as desperate people took to the forests in search of an alternative income source. For wildlife rescue groups, such as Australian charity Free the Bears, this created a dire situation, with teams unable to embark on missions to save vulnerable sun and moon bears from poachers.

“One of the biggest issues was reports for bears needing rescue and not being able to get to them. There were travel restrictions, even within borders,” says Matt Hunt, CEO of Free the Bears. “We had six bears rescued in Laos in 2020 compared to 18 in 2019. But in 2021, it went back up to 12, and we’ve had four so far this year.”

Wild visions

Since 1993, when Perth grandmother Mary Hutton stood in front of a supermarket collecting signatures to protest the farming of bears for their bile, Free the Bears has rescued almost 1,000 bears from a life of suffering, operating sanctuaries in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and India to create safe refuges for animals unable to be returned to the wild.

A vital part of the organisation’s work with government agencies to fight inhumane bile farms, illegal poaching and the pet and restaurant trades, is inviting tourists back to visit its sanctuaries to learn about bear care, or volunteer behind the scenes to help with the daily running of the sanctuaries – all of which came crashing down when borders slammed shut.

“It was a huge shock to the system. In some of our sanctuaries, tourism brought in 40 per cent of the running costs, and we lost that revenue generation in a stroke,” Hunt says.

But 2022 is bringing new hope: Cambodia has just dropped all COVID travel restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers, Vietnam is now open to visitors who meet visa and health restrictions, and Hunt hopes Laos will reopen in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, Free the Bears’ devotees – most of them Australian – have continued to dig deep, supporting the charity with donations, fundraising drives and awareness-raising events such as ‘Night in a Cage’, where animal lovers around the world replicate the conditions suffered by bears in bile farms by spending the night in a confined space.

From Laos with love

Meanwhile, construction at the new Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary –

Free the Bears’ second site in Laos – continues, with seven of the proposed 10 bear houses complete.

As well as cubs rescued from poachers, this sanctuary – which is supported by several leading hotels including Rosewood Luang Prabang – also provides refuge for other species trafficked and rescued, including macaques, gibbons, tortoises, slow lorises, porcupines and even red pandas, the latter seized four years ago on the Chinese border.

Where possible, these animals are rehabilitated and released back into the wild. But with no viable options for release, bears require lifelong care, with the sanctuaries providing healthy natural diets, veterinary treatment and large, enriched enclosures replicating their wild habitat.

None of this could be achieved without donations and sanctuary visits, with 100 per cent of all support going directly towards vital animal care. freethebears.org

“Where possible, these animals are rehabilitated and released back into the wild”.

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