Some wood, a bit of bamboo and an old fire hose — it’s amazing what you can use to help bears be bears.

A new addition to House 8 has certainly got the bears’ attention. No less than 10 inquisitive moon bears approached it together to work out what on earth it was, and — more importantly — how could they play with it?

It turns out they had no problem answering the last question. The bears immediately set about tugging, biting, climbing, pulling, passing around and sitting on every part of the structure.

Animals Asia’s Bear and Vet Team Director, Heidi Quine said:

“Bears have bright minds and are inquisitive and often playful by nature. It means we're kept on our toes ensuring we introduce novelty to their lives, giving them the choice to explore, discover, and remain engaged in their environment.

“This video is a perfect example of the value in our behavioural enrichment programme — it really does encourage so many of the behaviours a bear would express in the wild. At the end of the day it's about letting bears be bears.” 

Happy #MoonBearMonday everyone!

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