BANGKOK: Sixteen undernourished Asiatic black bear cubs have been found in a home in Laos capital Vientiane by a conservation charity, the largest rescue of the year.
The clutch of cubs, also known as moon bears after the white crescent of fur across their chests, are classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of endangered species.
Across Asia, thousands of the animals are kept as pets or farmed to extract their bile for use in costly traditional medicine.
Wildlife conservation charity Free the Bears said they found 17 cubs in the private home in Laos early last week, but that one of them had already died.
“When we arrived at the house there were bear cubs everywhere,” said Fatong Yang, animal manager with the charity.
Source: CNA
