Rescue Bear Cubs Mochi, Nara and Nikko
Three bear cubs saved in Vietnam from illegal wildlife traders
In the late afternoon of the 18th of May, on the busy streets of Son La, Vietnam, a tiny young bear was being illegally offered for sale. The female cub was only a few months old when she was offered for sale by illegal wildlife traders on the border with Laos.
Although illegal, Asiatic black bears are still smuggled, bought, sold and farmed for their stomach bile in Vietnam.
In this case, a local family found out and intervened to spare the baby bear from a lifetime of captivity on a bear farm or from being killed for human consumption. The FOUR PAWS Viet team was called to action by our local cooperation partner and the Vietnamese authorities and asked to save this little bear cub – Mochi.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the rescue action had to follow strict safety precautions, but the small FOUR PAWS team made the four-and-a-half-hour drive from BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh in Northern Vietnam to Son La province to rescue the cub.
Just a few months later, two more cubs were rescued from illegal trafficking, now Mochi is joined by Nikko and Nara!
A long road ahead
Mochi weighed just 2kg when we found her, and she is at a vulnerable age as her immune system is not fully developed yet, so our team will provide her with all the care she needs to grow into a healthy bear. Sadly, it is impossible that Mochi will be able to be released back into the wild, so she will remain at our sanctuary.
Our staff at Ninh Binh has experience in caring for bear cubs after the 2019 rescue of Mi and Tam, who were saved from a wildlife trafficker attempting to smuggle. Today, Mi and Tam are healthy, growing fast, and thriving at our BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh thanks to your support. We are determined to give Mochi the same second chance Mi and Tam had.
Wildlife trade in Vietnam
The legal and illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam is a billion-dollar industry which sees animals taken from the wild and bred in captivity to be sold in markets, restaurants, online and used in pseudo-traditional medicines throughout the country.
With its BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh, FOUR PAWS is supporting the Vietnamese government to contribute to an end of bile bear farming in Vietnam and provide a species-appropriate home for up to 100 rescued bears once all construction is finished. With the new arrival of Mochi, the sanctuary is currently home to 32 Asiatic black bears.
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Adorable Bear Cubs Loving Their New Larger Enclosure
A new larger enclosure for bear cub trio Mochi, Nikko, and Nara. At our BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh, the bear cubs have just moved to their new enclosure! Compared to their old enclosure, this is much bigger, and they have a lot of new things to discover. Mochi is still the smallest of the group, but the most confident one. Without hesitation, she was the first to start exploring the new space. After a while, Nara and Nikko followed, and now all three of them are spending most of the time outdoors.
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Enjoying the cub life
Today these three musketeers are doing great and are enjoying being cubs and having a lot of fun at our BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh. They are very active and growing fast! Their daily routine looks pretty the same every day: eating, sleeping and playing together. They all have great appetite, but little Mochi is the most greedy one. Although she is the smallest, Mochi is also the boss of the group. She explores any new enrichment giving to the cubs with a lot of confidence and fun. Nara is the shy one but doing really well with the other two. Although Nikko is a male and weighs nearly double than Mochi, he is afraid about nearly everything new. The other day he was even scared of peanuts.
Doing well and growing fast!
Doing well and growing fast! All the cubs have gained a lot of weight in the past weeks, Mochi is now 15 kg, Nara 20 kg and Nikko 26 kg! The cubs are fed 3 times a day. Their diet still includes milk, but also puppy food, peanuts and vegetables. They also get some apple pieces as rewards and browse. They are weighed weekly and the diet adjusted each week. They are being weaned so the milk is being reduced and eventually taken out altogether.
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Mochi and company
Today, little Mochi was introduced to new arrival bear cubs Nikko and Nara! Their introduction 'in person' was carefully supervised, following a meeting through a barrier a few days ago. As she is still the smallest of the three cubs at only 10 kg, Mochi was a little nervous of the encounter, but the other cubs were already initiating play. The team is positive that with more time the three cubs will be great companions for each other!
The building of a suitable outdoor enclosure is almost complete and it is hoped that in the next weeks the young bears will be able to be released together outdoors. Help us to support their new beginning.
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Mochi bathing
This little bear loves splashing around in the water to cool off, even though she is still a little clumsy in her movements! She is already 6 kg! Will you support Mochi’s new beginnings?
