Activists rescue 16 moon bear cubs from home in Laos: ‘they were everywhere’

The clutch of cubs, also known as moon bears after the white crescent of fur across their chests, are classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of endangered species.

Across Asia, thousands of the animals are kept as pets or farmed to extract their bile for use in costly traditional medicine.

Wildlife conservation charity Free the Bears said they found 17 cubs in the private home in Laos early last week, but that one of them had already died.

“When we arrived at the house there were bear cubs everywhere,” said Fatong Yang, animal manager with the charity.

The group found 10 males and six females, weighing between 1.3kg to 4kg and believed to be around two to four months old.

“Cubs this small are extremely vulnerable. In the wild their mothers would never leave them and we suspect the mothers were killed by poachers,” Fatong said in a statement over the weekend.

“This is the most bears we’ve rescued in a single year and we’re only three months into 2024,” he said.

Free the Bears said that police were alerted to the house after a neighbour heard the cries of one of the cubs.

One Laotian person has been taken into custody, the group said, while police continue to search for the owner of the property.

The cubs have been transferred to Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary, Free the Bears said in a statement, where they will be bottle-fed and closely monitored.

Hunt added that they were “so happy 16 of the 17 are alive and have a second chance to live a life free from fear and suffering”.