New arrivals at our Vietnam sanctuary Wilf and Elsie got their first taste of the big wide world this week – and loved being outside so much they even chose to sleep under blue skies.

And – with “dinner on the table” back in the cub house – their carers reported that the pair could barely stop playing for five minutes to come in and eat.

Wilf and Elsie are recent arrivals at our Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre in Tam Dao, having moved to the sanctuary this summer via the Hanoi Wildlife Rescue Centre (HWRC).

Although still in quarantine - as with all new bear arrivals - they’ve taken their first few steps onto the green and pleasant land of their new home.

Sarah Dempsey, Animals Asia’s Bear Manager in Vietnam, said:

“It’s been a joy to watch how quickly Wilf and Elsie have settled here at the centre. They were quite shy and scared when they first arrived but have grown accustomed to their new home since then.

“These last few days they’re like completely new bears. They were much more settled and they relaxed so much they even fell asleep outside. So much so that when our bear workers went over to feed them, they didn’t seem to be that bothered about coming inside for their food.”

The cubs were originally confiscated from traffickers by police officers in Vietnam’s Hoa Binh province, approximately 120km west of Hanoi. In keeping with the law, police were obliged to transfer the bears to a government facility while they finalised the prosecution case. Now Wilf and Elsie have become sanctuary residents at Animals Asia’s facility an hour from Hanoi.

There they join 130 already-rescued bears and will eventually be settled into a community of around 20 bears in their own open air enclosure.

Sarah added:

“Caring for bear cubs is not a one-size fits all approach - we carefully assess factors such as their age, size, health and behaviour, and have to take into account how they came to us. Wilf and Elsie’s diet consists of puppy milk formula, puppy dog food and fruit and vegetables, three times a day. They have their milk and evening meal inside, but their other meals are distributed around their enclosure which gives them a chance to forage just like in the wild.

“Also we change the amounts each week as they grow, and as they get older we’ll start to decrease the milk and increase the solid food until we phase the milk out entirely.”

Which is all well and good, provided Wilf and Elsie can stop playing for just five minutes to come and have their dinner.

Have a wonderful #MoonBearMonday one and all.

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