The 22 Asiatic black bears are locked in small metal cages at a breeding farm.
There, their gallbladders and bile were harvested and marketed as cures for things like sore
throats and even cancer.
They had never felt grass under their paws.
Bear feeders don't provide the appropriate food for bears.
Bears are only fed dog food and they never get to live a natural life in the wild.
“They lived in the most horrific conditions you can imagine,” said Pat Craig, founder
and executive director of the Wild Animal Sanctuary in southeastern Colorado.
In mid-March, Craig’s nonprofit organization rescued the shaggy bears — nicknamed “moon
bears” for the yellow crescent-shaped markings on their chests.
It brought them to Colorado, where they are free to frolic, roam and fatten themselves
up.
“To see them finally free and playing in grass for the first time was really rewarding,”
said Craig, 62.
He has taken in unwanted and abused bears, lions, tigers and wolves at the sanctuary
since 1980, and he added a 9,700-acre refuge four years ago.
“You can tell the bears are happy now,” he said.
“They’re able to explore 243 forested [fenced-in] acres, play in the water and act
like normal bears.”
Through a collaboration with the Korean Animal Welfare Association in Seoul, he said, his
nonprofit used about $200,000 in public and private donations to charter a jet this spring
and rescue the 22 moon bears.
“We had planned to do it sooner, then the pandemic hit and the country was shut off,”
he said.
“We were anxious to get them out of there.”
Craig has identified many more in need of rescue.
The bears weigh 150 to 200 pounds and are about half the size of moon bears in the wild
because of years of malnutrition.
“There are upward of 200 captive black bears still in South Korea, and I’d love to save
every one of them,” he said.
South Korea announced in January that by 2026 it would finally put an end to bear bile farming
and bile extraction — a practice in many Asian countries that has drawn worldwide outrage
and scrutiny, Craig said.
“The bears are put in coffin-like cages so they can’t move, then a stent is put
in through their gall bladders to collect their bile,” he said.
“These bears can’t roll, they can’t move, they can’t shift, and they’re barely
fed enough to keep them alive,” Craig said.
“They have no stimulation, and they’re never able to experience nature.
It’s every bit as appalling and torturous as it sounds.”
Bears often develop infections from the extractions and die, he said, noting that their teeth
also can become infected.
Long-term-health problems like arthritis are common, because of their cramped enclosures.
Although bile farming is on its way out in South Korea, several hundred bears are still
being held in intolerable conditions, he added.
“Now that the bile cages are gone, they’ve been moved to steel rebar cages that are suspended
from the ground so their urine and feces will fall downward,” he said.
“Their feet don’t even touch the ground.”
Members of the Korean Animal Welfare Association are paying farmers to feed the bears and keep
them alive until they can be flown out of the country by wildlife rescue groups, Craig
said, adding that he was contacted by the group two years ago to help.
“We’d love to get them all out, but it takes money and time,” he said.
“We could only fit 22 cages on the flight we chartered.”
South Korean volunteers loaded the caged bears onto the plane, then Craig and several employees
met the flight in Los Angeles.
They transferred the bears onto trucks and drove nonstop to the refuge, located about
30 miles from Springfield, Colo.
At the refuge, the bears were kept in temporary enclosures with private dens for about six
weeks to help them get used to new sounds and smells and allow them to become familiar
with their keepers, Craig said.
Then in April, they were released in stages into their rugged, forested habitat.
A team of veterinarians is observing them to ensure that their adjustment to nature
goes smoothly, he said.
The refuge’s head veterinarian, Joyce Thompson, said the bears came to the sanctuary with
many ailments, including long-term malnutrition.
“I suspect that some of them may have orthopedic issues as they grow older,” she said, adding
that the bears range in age from 6 to 12 years.
One of the rescued bears is blind, another has hip arthritis, and a third is missing
a front paw and a back paw, she said.
Those bears will be transferred to the group’s smaller sanctuary near Denver for special
care.
“For the most part, the bears are all now doing well and are enjoying their new habitat,”
Thompson said.
“Before, they were climbing cages.
Now they’re climbing trees.”
“We’re allowing them to be their natural bear selves as much as possible,” she said.
“They’re not on display here — they just get do whatever they want to do.
If they want to, they can go swimming.
Or they can sleep all day in the shade.
It’s up to them.”
Each bear consumes about 10 to 15 pounds of fresh produce, grains and meat daily, Craig
said, noting that fresh berries, raw eggs and salmon are a big hit.
“A deli donated some lasagna to us once, and they really enjoyed that,” he said.
“We place plenty of food throughout the habitat, so there’s never any reason for
them to fight over it.”
Craig started his animal sanctuary with a single jaguar at age 19 and said he takes
special joy in watching large carnivores explore natural surroundings, finally free after years
of abuse.
“I grew up on a farm and have always loved animals,” he said.
“When I found out there were big cats and bears that were overbred by breeders and unwanted
by zoos around the world, I decided to make it my life’s work to rescue as many as I
could.”
He said he fenced off his family’s farm outside Boulder, Colo., to begin with, then
gradually received enough donations to buy a larger space.
Eighty-five employees and 160 volunteers now care for about 700 lions, tigers and bears
at two facilities in Colorado and a sanctuary in Boyd, Tex., Craig said, adding that many
of the animals spent most of their lives in circuses or locked up in cages.
“We’ve even taken in a few camels, kangaroos and ostriches,” he said.
“But mostly, we focus on large carnivores.
They’re expensive to feed and dangerous to take care of, and it’s harder to find
places that will take them in.”
Now that the sanctuary’s newest residents are rolling around in the dirt and exploring
fragrant woods for the first time, Craig said he hopes to rescue more moon bears soon.
“They’re beautiful animals, and they deserve to be free and enjoy life,” he said.
“I’d love to help even more of them to enjoy that feeling of wild grass under their
feet for the first time.”