Gifts for Bear Lovers

Did you know that it's World Bear Day on the 23rd March 2024?
and a chance to help bears all over the world!

Gifts for Bear Lovers

There's an amazing charity which I've recently discovered called Free the Bears. Over 25 years, they have rescued 950 moon and sun bears and these are taken to bear sanctuaries in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam..

Free the Bears rescue bears from bear bile farms. The bears are kept on these farms in the most dreadful conditions - they can usually hardly move in the cages they are kept in, and many need rehabilitating when they are rescued. The bear bile is extracted from them by inserting a tube into their gallbladder and used for medicinal purposes in Asian countries. The rescued bears live out their lives in Free the Bears' bear sanctuaries.

Gifts and donations help them care for these cubs
and rescue more bears!

A Night in a Cage 2024

On the 13th April 2024, it's A Night in a Cage, an annual fundraiser to raise funds to care for the bears and also to raise awareness of what it must be like for the bears held captive in tiny cages. You can help by donating to the event, or a team taking part (there are a number of teams around the world, including the Team Laos, who are looking after the 18 bear cubs from the rescue you can see above) and you could also take part yourself! It doesn't have to be the 13th April that you have your night in a cage - it can be any night in April. Find out more here.

Help the little bears with a Cub Care Kit donation
£19.00
Lots of the bears coming in to rescue are baby cubs -
and they need lots of special care!
You can dedicate this gift to a loved one and send an e-card
with a personal message.

Free the Bears started when its founder, Dr Mary Hutton (recently retired), saw a programme about bear bile farms. She was horrified, and the next day she went to a supermarket armed with a petition for people to sign, aiming to stop bear bile farming.

Give the bears a bear hammock to chill out in

Roll the camera forward 25 years, and Free the Bears is now a registered charity in both Australia and the UK, and they have sanctuaries in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, where they bears have everything they need, from food to veterinary attention, and places to relax, chill out and try to forget the terrible things they had to go through.

Free the Bears have also worked with Wildlife SOS and International Animal Rescue to rescue India's dancing bears, and also to educate the public about wildlife and the illegal wildlife trade.

You can help - by donating to Free the Bears, or buying a gift for the bears, or a bear related gift for people! You could sponsor a bear or become a bear carer. You can do this in a number of different currencies, including British pounds, US dollars, Canadian dollars, Euros, Japanese yen, Australian dollars of course and others.