Cambodia
Located inside the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre, just outside Phnom Penh, our Cambodia Bear Sanctuary was established in 1997 and is now the world’s largest sanctuary for rescued sun bears.
Over more than two decades, the sanctuary has grown into a world-class rescue and rehabilitation centre for bears affected by the illegal wildlife trade. Today, more than 100 rescued bears live across forested habitats designed to encourage natural behaviours like climbing, foraging, swimming and nesting.
The sanctuary also features an education centre for schools and tours, Wildlife Hospital, and a world-class cub nursery and quarantine facility, with state of the art green design including solar power, water treatment, composting and gardens
Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre
Opened in 2003 beside the famous Kuang Si waterfalls, the Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre was Free the Bears’ first sanctuary in Laos.
The sanctuary introduced thousands of visitors to rescued bears, shining a light on the realities of bile farming and the illegal wildlife trade in Asia.
The centre has also played an important role in advancing bear veterinary care with a veterinary team performing the world’s first neurosurgery on a bear there.
Today, the area remains one of Laos’ most recognised wildlife tourism destinations, where visitors can watch rescued bears climb, forage, swim and rest in spacious forest habitats just moments from the waterfalls.
Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary
Opened in 2017, the Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary was created to meet the urgent need for more rescue space in Laos as wildlife trafficking cases and bear rescues rapidly increased. It is now the a major wildlife rescue and rehabilitation hub, with 12 bear houses.
The sanctuary is also home to many other rescued animals including pangolins, macaques, gibbons, leopard cats, tortoises, and birds. It was also the site of the world’s largest rescue of red pandas intercepted from the illegal wildlife trade.
The sanctuary featured in the BBC series Bears About the House, which followed the lives of rescued bear cubs and the team caring for them around the clock.
As rescue numbers continue to rise, the sanctuary continues to grow too, ensuring vulnerable wildlife rescued from trafficking, bile farms and the exotic pet trade have a safe home.
Located inside Cat Tien National Park, our first Vietnam sanctuary, Cat Tien Bear Rescue Centre, was established in 2008 in partnership with the Forest Protection Department to provide a safe future for bears rescued from bile farms.
The sanctuary welcomed an initial group of nine rescued bears into what was then the largest semi-natural habitat for rescued wildlife in Vietnam. As more bears were rescued from captivity, the sanctuary rapidly expanded.
In 2017, the first large forest habitat at the new Cat Tien Bear Sanctuary opened, allowing more rescued bears access to expansive natural enclosures after years spent confined in small cages. Additional bear houses, forest habitats and a Wildlife Hospital followed soon after.
Today, rescued moon and sun bears live across two sanctuaries, designed to help them rediscover natural behaviours like climbing, swimming, foraging and nesting.
As Vietnam continues its long journey towards ending bear bile farming, Free the Bears continues working alongside government partners to prepare for future rescues and ensure more bears can finally leave the cages behind.
