New life in Yorkshire for caged brown bears

FOUR ENDANGERED brown bears have been brought from Japan to a new life in Yorkshire following a precision-planned 5,000-mile transport operation.

Riku, Kai, Hanako and Amu had been living in outdated cages at the Ainu Cultural Museum, on the island of Hokkaido, and urgently needed new facilities, according to staff at their new home at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park (YWP) in Doncaster.

The attraction – which has become a second home to scores of animals from lions to polar bears over the last decade – said it stepped in when it became clear there was no capacity in Japanese zoos to take them.

YWP animal manager Debbie Porter said a detailed operation was put together over the last two months to ensure a safe 5,400-mile journey to the UK.

She said: “The loading went like clockwork. The 27-year-old female Hanako was very playful when we were loading her – at one point she tried to grab a hosepipe, she was very curious about what was going on. She is very sassy and extremely bright. She does like people so it should be quite fun when we get her settled at home.”

The bears were taken to the airport in an air-conditioned lorry provided by DHL Japan, before being flown to London. They were driven to Doncaster and then released.

Ms Porter said: “I actually took a photo of the empty cages as you think for 27 years they have been in that tiny caging. It was a very emotional day.”

The Ussuri brown bears are also known as the black grizzly and can weigh up to 1,200lbs. The species is on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and there are estimated to be about 10,000 in Japan.