It was touch and go for a tiny bear cub called Rescue 171 as he struggled for survival on arrival at a sanctuary in Cambodia, rescued from a market in Kompong Speu province weighing under 3kg.

Staff at the centre cared for him round the clock to nurse him back to health before introducing him to his newly adopted big sister, Rescue 172, who had been taken from her captors life-threateningly malnourished and bloated.Both bears were lucky to have made it to the Free the Bears sanctuary, where Colchester Zoo’s two Sun Bears also spent time after being rescued by anti-poaching patrols a few years before.

Action for the Wild, Colchester Zoo’s charity, supported Free the Bears last year with a donation of £5,000 to fund a vital research project into the population decline of the Moon Bear (Asiatic Black) and the Malayan Sun Bear.The funding is also helping to develop the quarantine area for newly rescued bears at the sanctuary in Cambodia, so vulnerable bears such as little Rescue 171 and his new sister 172, can have a fighting chance for survival.

Article written by Sarah Jones Beer