Rescued from Thanh Hoa province earlier this year, siblings Dung and James recently completed quarantine and have taken their first steps outside.

Due to his blindness from cataracts the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre’s Bear Team initially allowed James to explore alone which he was more than happy to do by climbing straight to the top of the tallest structure in the enclosure - and it was all captured in the images below.

While there have been a few bumps on the way as the exuberant juvenile discovers his new environment – James is certainly making the most of this new space.

Now joined by his bigger sister Dung, pronounced Zung, the siblings have delighted staff with their reaction to unfamiliar surroundings.

Senior Vet Joost Philippa, part of the team that travelled to Thanh Hoa province to rescue the pair said:

“They are having a great time together, constantly playing and chasing after each other – even James is running around in the outside enclosure despite his disability."

“At the moment they have their own big outside enclosure, but next week fellow juveniles Ricky and Joey will become their neighbours – the first step towards integrating the centre’s youngsters. We can’t wait to see how they all get on.”

On arrival at VBRC, James’ health caused concern for vets, suffering from cataracts and with his fur in poor condition.

Vet Joost has been happy to report that James's fur is already much improved – potentially due to the improvement in diet – while an ophthalmologist from the UK is due to visit the facility in June and it’s hoped that his sight can be restored.

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