In 1993 Perth grandmother Mary Hutton saw a television program with horrifying footage of moon bears (Asiatic Black bears) held in coffin sized cages with dirty catheters inserted into their gall bladder to 'milk' their bile for traditional medicine. She drew up a petition and stood at the local shopping mall, collecting signatures to “Free the Bears”. She gathered like-minded people and in 1995 registered Free the Bears Fund as a not-for-profit charity (Charity No: A1004507U). As Mary created events to raise awareness about the plight of Asia’s bears, word of her work spread and requests for help arrived. After rescuing a pair of sun bears from Cambodia, she began construction of the Cambodian Bear Sanctuary, now the world’s largest sanctuary for sun bears. A telephone call from India led to Free the Bears joining Wildlife SOS and International Animal Rescue to free India’s dancing bears. From 2002 Free the Bears helped provide seed money to more than 500 families to set up new livelihoods and in 2009 the last of India’s dancing bears was rescued, ending the centuries old tradition.
2003 saw the opening of our Bear Rescue Centre in Luang Prabang, Laos followed by Cat Tien, Vietnam in 2008. In 2017 we opened the Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary, to rescue & rehabilitate bears and other wildlife in need. Construction of additional facilities in both locations is in progress to cope with increasing rescues and help end bear bile farming. Free the Bears provides lifelong care to over 260 rescued bears in sanctuaries we operate in three countries. As well as rescue and rehabilitation, we work with local communities and governments to tackle the threats to Asia's bears. Besides habitat loss, one of the main threats to bears in Asia is the illegal wildlife trade. Many of our rescued bears are rescued from poachers, exotic pet owners, or people planning to use them in traditional medicine. Poachers kill or capture bears via hunting or snare traps, selling them locally or smuggling them abroad. Another grave threat to Asia's bears are bear bile farms. Despite bear bile farming becoming illegal in the countries in which we operate (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), an estimated 300 bears remain in captivity in Vietnam (down from 4,000+ in 2006) and 80 in Laos (2021 estimates). It is suspected that almost all bears in Vietnam and Laos bile farms were taken from the wild and additional reports indicate that wild bear numbers are plummeting. To tackle this problem, Free the Bears and other wildlife conservation organisations are working with governments to strengthen laws and increase capacity for enforcement, working with traditional medicine practitioners to promote synthetic and herbal alternatives to bear bile, addressing consumer demand with education campaigns about the cruelty inflicted upon bears in farms. We're beginning to see positive results from these efforts. In a recent study of Vietnamese bear bile farmers, farmers reported a substantial reduction in consumer demand for bear bile. We don't pay for bears (paying for bears would contribute to a market for wildlife). Instead we work with government authorities who confiscate bears (and other illegally held wildlife), handing them over to Free the Bears for rescue and rehabilitation. Free the Bears works with communities, schools and organisations across Asia to change attitudes and raise awareness of the wildlife trade. We work with universities and other institutions who conduct critical research. We also work with government, law enforcement agencies and other charities to create and implement a framework to combat wildlife traders. Despite each country facing a unique set of challenges and issues to overcome, we will continually strive to achieve our mission of protecting, preserving and enriching the lives of bears throughout the world. Free the Bears.
