Cambodia Pre-release Stage 2 welcomes its first sun bear

The Cambodia Bear Sanctuary has reached an exciting new milestone, with the Pre-release Stage 2 facility officially welcoming its first resident sun bear.

Opening in August 2025, Pre-release Stage 2 is a secluded, semi-wild forest habitat designed to support rescued bears that may be suitable for release back to the wild. The facility represents years of research and planning, all aimed at one day giving bears a chance to live freely again.

Human presence is minimised, natural behaviours are encouraged, and the environment aims to closely mirror the conditions bears would experience in the wild, with monitoring possible through discrete observation windows. To limit human interaction, it also includes “food catapults” on the outer perimetre, enabling the team to scatter food across the expansive site.

The first bear to move into the area is an adult female sun bear known as Cambodia Rescue 216. She was rescued in 2022 after being found caught in a poacher’s snare in a protected forest in southwest Cambodia. The snare caused a serious infection that led to the loss of her left forelimb. Despite this, she has shown remarkable strength and curiosity as she explores her new forest home.

Already, she has been observed climbing, foraging for termites, and building nests in trees to sleep at night. Her progress is providing valuable insight into how bears with historic injuries can adapt, and it is exciting to see her exploring her habitat with increasing confidence.

The road towards seeing bears returned safely to the forests of Southeast Asia is undoubtedly a long and careful one, which will only be traversed by a small percentage of rescued bears. The sad fact is that for the majority of our rescues, the trauma they have experienced means they will require lifelong care.

However, the opening of Pre-release Stage 2 marks a hopeful step forward, helping us better understand what a safe return to the wild could look like for bears in Cambodia.