A hopeful next step for rescued moon bear cub sisters

The two moon bear cub sisters we rescued over Easter weekend, after being found listed for sale on Facebook, are doing well and settling in beautifully under the care of our veterinary and bear care teams.

But one thing has stood out immediately: they are incredibly shy and wary of people - which is actually very good news!

Unlike many rescued cubs who have been heavily handled by traders or kept as pets, these girls show very little interest in human interaction and have not become human-imprinted, a rare and promising sign that their natural instincts remain strong.

Because of this human-avoidance behaviour, they have moved into our specialised pre-release cub nursery space, to see if one day these two girls may be suitable for release to protected forest.

Our pre-release program team will continue providing them with expert daily care, while observing their behaviour, development, and natural instincts as they grow.

Importantly: this does not mean release is imminent or guaranteed.

Most rescued bears will not have the right instincts, health, or natural skills to return to the wild, and so will stay in sanctuary care for life. Sanctuary remains critical to the protection of bears in Asia.

But for a small number of bears who show the right signs, we believe it is worth exploring whether one day they may be able to return to protected forest.

What is the pre-release programme?

Our pre-release programme is exploring how rescued bears could one day return to Southeast Asia’s forests, through careful, science-led conservation.

We have built bespoke pre-release habitats designed to mirror the wild as closely as possible and we use specialised protocols to reduce human dependence as the bears grow. 

We are also working with government and conservation partners to protect critical habitats, and we conduct field research to understand where released bears have the best chance to succeed.

Bears are “forest gardeners”, shaping ecosystems in ways few other animals can. They spread seeds across large distances, helping forests regenerate, break open logs and termite mounds, recycling nutrients, and they create space for new plant growth.

When bears disappear, forests lose more than a species. They lose balance, diversity, and resilience.

Protecting bears in the wild, and getting rescued bears back out there safely, means protecting entire ecosystems.

A future where bears live freely in the wild won’t happen overnight. It will take years of research, habitat protection, and care. But with your support, we can give rescued bears the chance to return, and protect the forests they help sustain.

Learn more about our release program.

What this means for these cub sisters

These sisters are not being released any time soon.

They are simply entering the very first stage of a long-term assessment process, to see if one day they might return to safe, protected habitats as adult bears.

If at any point during the assessment process, they are found to not be suitable candidates for release, they will move into our main sanctuary habitats where they will always have a safe home for life.

For now, we’re celebrating what their shyness may represent.

Despite everything they have been through, these little bears still carry their wild instincts, which is worth protecting.