< img src= "https://savageventures.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/moon-bear-cubs-rescued.jpeg?w=1200" alt =""> A raid in late March put 16 moon bear cubs in the hands of wildlife rehabilitators who adoringly bottle feed and care for the infants around the clock. Officials saved the cubs from a poacher’s home in Laos, according to Reuters.
Moon bears, or Asiatic black bears, are threatened thanks in part to poaching and wildlife trafficking. In some parts of the world, humans use bear bile in medication (especially in conventional Chinese medication).
Poachers hunt and kill moon bears for their gallbladders and the valuable bile inside. In Asia, “bear farms” keep live bears for bile extraction. Unfortunately, numerous bears in these facilities die of persistent infection or other illnesses.
It’s possible this would have been the 16 moon bear cubs’ fate. Fortunately, wildlife officials actioned in, and the cubs are now in the hands of people who have the bears’ best interests at heart.
Moon bears live in the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, and parts of eastern Asia. Like the black bears in The United States and Canada, Asiatic black bears are omnivores. They consume a series of things, including fruit and nuts, pests, bees and honey, and little mammals.
As you can peek in the video, moon bears have a crescent moon-shaped spot of light-colored fur on their chest.
For now, the bear cubs will live at a sanctuary in Luang Prabang run by Free the Bears, an Australian wildlife preservation group.
16 endangered moon bear cubs were rescued from a poacher’s home in Laos, and they’re now in better hands.