Help 1,000 Rescued Lions, Tigers, Bears & Horses

For more than four decades, Asiatic Black Bears in South Korea, often referred to as “Moon Bears,” have lived within one of the most controversial wildlife industries in the world. Their suffering was not the result of ancient tradition alone, but of a modern policy decision made in the early 1980s, when the government encouraged farmers to import and breed Bears as a form of rural income generation and participation in the growing demand for Bear bile used in traditional medicine.

What followed was an industry built on confinement. Bears were kept in small metal cages, many from a young age, and bile was extracted repeatedly from their gallbladders for use in Traditional Asian Medicine products marketed as remedies for ailments ranging from digestive issues to inflammation. Despite growing scientific and ethical concerns, the practice persisted for decades, even as alternatives to Bear bile became widely available and public sentiment gradually shifted toward ending the cruelty.

Over time, South Korea became one of the last countries in the world still maintaining a legal Bear bile farming industry. Animal welfare organizations, both domestic and international, spent years documenting conditions, advocating for policy change, and working alongside government agencies to transition away from the practice. Their efforts emphasized not only the ethical issue of animal suffering, but also the lack of necessity for Bear bile in modern medicine given synthetic and herbal alternatives.

That long advocacy culminated in a landmark agreement: a formal commitment to end Bear bile farming, prohibit breeding and possession of Bears for bile extraction, and fully eliminate the practice. On January 1, 2026, the ban officially came into effect, marking the legal end of Bear bile farming in South Korea after more than 40 years.

However, while the law represents a historic victory, it also marks the beginning of a more complicated responsibility: what to do with the remaining captive Bears. As of the ban’s implementation, approximately 200 Bears remain on farms across the country.

These animals cannot simply be released into the wild. Most have spent their entire lives in captivity and require specialized lifetime care. This has created an urgent need for sanctuary space and coordinated rescue efforts.

The government and partner organizations have agreed on a divided approach to address this final phase. Many of the remaining Bears are to be transferred to sanctuary facilities currently being built within Korea. Although this is a landmark decision and a meaningful commitment toward taking responsibility for this highly abusive industry - there will not be enough capacity for all 200 Bears to go there.

Due to capacity restraints, only 100 of these Bears will be accepted and remain in South Korea, while the remaining 100 Bears will need to find homes in another country. It is within this historic moment that The Wild Animal Sanctuary’s role becomes especially significant.

As part of a coordinated international effort, The Wild Animal Sanctuary has agreed to provide lifelong sanctuary care for these 100 Bears, individuals who would otherwise have no viable long-term placement options. These Bears represent not only the end of an industry, but also the beginning of a new responsibility: ensuring that animals who have spent their entire lives in confinement are given the space, safety, and dignity of a natural environment for the first time.

This is not the first time The Wild Animal Sanctuary has been part of a historic effort to end Bear bile farming in South Korea. Years before this final phase of the ban, our organization worked alongside the Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA) and government officials on a groundbreaking rescue involving 22 Asiatic Black Bears who were trapped inside active bile farming operations.

At the time, these Bears were living in conditions that mirrored what has now become widely recognized as one of the most horrific industries in existence. They were forced to live in small metal cages constructed of rebar, with barren flooring and lives defined entirely by severe confinement and painful medical extraction.

Many of them had spent their entire existence in these enclosures, living, eating, sleeping, and pacing on steel bars, never having touched natural ground or experienced open space.

Through a complex international collaboration involving multiple agencies, veterinarians, logistics teams, and animal welfare partners, those 22 Bears were carefully removed from the farms where they had been held. Each Bear required individual assessment, sedation, and transport preparation before being placed into custom-built shipping crates designed specifically for their safety and long-distance travel.

The operation itself was coordinated across continents, involving both Korean and U.S. wildlife authorities, and ultimately required a dedicated cargo jet to safely transport all of the Bears out of the country.

Their journey did not end when they left South Korea; it continued through a long and carefully managed rehabilitation process once they arrived at The Wild Animal Refuge in southern Colorado. There, after decades of confinement, they were slowly introduced to natural ground for the first time in their lives.

Their reaction was immediate and unmistakable: uncertainty at first, followed by cautious steps and then gradual discovery. Soft soil replaced steel. Open space replaced cages. Silence, fresh air, and nature replaced sterile confinement.

Over time, what had once been survival behavior—pacing, circling, hesitation, and aggression—began to fade. Some Bears moved slowly at first, unsure whether the ground beneath them was real.

Others explored quickly, drawn to the unfamiliar texture of grass, trees, and natural terrain. Each individual adapted at their own pace, but all shared one defining shift: they were finally able to make choices that were not dictated by the limits of a tiny steel cage.

Today, those 22 Bears are no longer part of an unfolding rescue story. They are living free within the expansive habitats of The Wild Animal Refuge.

Some have claimed favorite areas within the forested valleys, while others move between different regions of the habitat, following scent trails, seasonal changes, and social bonds with other rescued Bears. What began as one of the most complex international rescues ever undertaken has become something far more permanent: a living example of what happens when the final step of rescue is completed with long-term sanctuary care.

While the end of Bear bile farming in South Korea marks the close of a long and painful chapter, the reality is that both KAWA and the Sanctuary’s work is not finished the moment the law takes effect. The remaining step is deeply practical and immediate: moving these Bears out of captivity and into permanent sanctuary settings where they can finally live out their lives with dignity and safety.

For supporters of The Wild Animal Sanctuary, this moment represents something rare and definitive. After decades of global awareness and advocacy around Bear bile farming, there is now a real, tangible endpoint in sight, ensuring that the last Bears caught in this system are given a home and that no future generation will ever enter it again.

What is unfolding now in South Korea is not only the end of Bear bile farming, but the beginning of a coordinated global effort to give these Bears something they have never known: life outside a cage and life on their own terms.

As for the timing of this rescue, it will depend on the many logistical pieces that must fall into place. Between the permitting required in both countries and the extensive transportation logistics that must be arranged, the rescue is expected to take place sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.

However, because we have previously rescued 22 Moon Bears from South Korea, we have significant experience going into this larger effort. With your support, and with the help of KAWA and the other agencies involved, we should be able to safely transport the Bears to our Refuge near Springfield, Colorado, where they will be able to live in a massive, naturally forested habitat of their very own.

Photo Credit: World Animal Protection 

Links:

• Learn more about The Wild Animal Sanctuary
• Learn more about this rescue
• Ways to Help

As many of our supporters know, international rescues are far more complex than domestic ones. When you add the challenges of an active military conflict, a rescue can become nearly impossible. Far from the freedom and wild spaces they were meant to roam, in this fraught land scape, seven majestic animals remained trapped in a small, privately owned zoo near the Syrian border.

The owner, infamous for breeding, trading, and selling animals, kept them in barren enclosures which never came close to meeting their physical or emotional needs. They had never felt natural ground beneath their paws, only cold cement, and had never experienced the world beyond.

Their world was small and confined, shaped by constant noise, instability, and stress. For years, they waited for someone to step in, for a chance at something more, yet every effort to improve their lives was met with roadblocks at every turn.

Each animal in this small makeshift zoo was kept inside a sterile concrete cell block. There were very few days, if ever, when the animals were given some sort of enrichment, which left them sitting idle, immersed in a world where nothing existed other than the endless hours of heat during the day and the long frigid nights.

If asked, the owner and his caretakers would tell you their loud demanding calls were part of daily enrichment… or the times when they would spray water into the cages to clean the excess excrement and urine away. They may even consider feeding time to be an enrichment activity, although the animals’ thunderous roars and aggressive actions were purely an instinctive response to feeling half-starved most of the time.

There simply was no way to sugar coat the life these animals were forced to live. With three concrete walls surrounding them, and one set of steel bars to look through, their world was as unnatural as it could get.

With no contraception or birth control management being employed, the owner allowed the animals to breed and would remove any cubs as soon as they were born. Sadly, in a way, it was better to take them away from their mothers than let them waste away in such a harsh and unforgiving environment.

Thankfully, we were contacted about this situation and decided to look into what could be done to help the animals. As expected, the only way for us to help in a meaningful way was for us to find a way to get them removed from the zoo.

We became more involved alongside a rescue organization in Lebanon who encouraged the owner to either upgrade his facility or send the animals to a proper sanctuary. At one point, after many months of negotiations, it seemed an agreement had been reached.

The owner stated he would let the animals go and would close his zoo for good. Encouraged by his willingness to help the animals go to a better life, we agreed to give them a home.

In response, we sent our specialized transport crates to Lebanon and also deployed two members of our team to assess site logistics and gather detailed information on each animal’s health status. After much discussion, a plan was in place for their relocation.

Although many weeks of negotiations were needed to secure flights and ground transportation, as well as to obtain the required international import permits, we were finally ready to begin our rescue operations.

Yet as often happens in these situations, the owner changed his mind at the last minute. Thankfully, with decades of experience having to deal with private owners like this, we knew it was a possibility.

As with the majority of private people who purchase an exotic animal as a pet… as well as those who keep acquiring more until they finally have enough to open their own version of a makeshift zoo… they suddenly realize that once the animals are gone, they will no longer be the center of attention in their community. In response, we have found the best remedy for this kind of situation is to make their last minute decision into a big deal within the community and their own social network.

Doing so causes the owner to receive numerous urgent pleas to reverse their decision, which in an odd way, is perceived as a positive thing by someone who is a narcissist. Rather than be upset by everyone telling him or her what to do – these owners instead become incredibly pleased with all of the attention they are receiving and subsequently let the animals go.

Of course, we were very glad the animals would benefit from this diversionary tactic, but as with so many other rescues, just as we dodge one bullet, there is another one trailing close behind!

Unfortunately, within a very short period, everything became far more complicated.

Unexpectedly, the war between Israel and Hezbollah began to escalate inside of Lebanon. The bombings increased, checkpoints grew unsafe, and airports closed. As a result, our critical permits expired.

Months passed as one delay after another stretched into more than a year - all while the animals remained in limbo with their safety uncertain and their lives on hold. Sadly, as with so many of the animals that had lived in the zoo over the past decade, the female Bear suddenly disappeared.

Of course, there were conflicting reports as to why she was no longer there, which ranged from dying of cancer to being transferred to another zoo somewhere else. This was just another reason why we needed to get them out of there as soon as possible.

Finally, in late 2025 a ceasefire went into place which opened a small window where we were able to get them out of their embattled country.

The first group to leave consisted of four adult Lions. Once secured, the animals were flown to the United States where our Sanctuary team met them in Dallas, Texas. They arrived safely before beginning the 12-hour drive to their new home in Colorado.

The second group followed approximately seven days later and included a Tiger named Sharkhan, a Jaguar named Bagheera, and a Bear named Gypsy. Our team repeated the process from the week before, once again making the 24-hour round-trip journey to secure the animals.

Four Lions, one Tiger, one Jaguar, and one Bear, all survivors of captivity, broken promises, and war, had finally reached sanctuary.

Upon arrival, the animals were reactive to both sounds and sudden movements, likely the result of living in a war-torn environment.

Daily routines, such as replacing their water, involved careful movements and high value treats to help desensitize them and ease them out of their survival mode.

What started as survival behavior slowly began to shift into something they had never known before: safety.

Three of the Lions adjusted surprisingly quickly. Male Laith and females Lala and Lucy have settled into their new surroundings with remarkable ease. Lala - a playful clown of a Lioness - loves rolling in woodchips and showing off her curious, spirited nature.

Laith, who had been previously declawed, immediately showed signs of difficulty when he walked. As most of our supporters know, declawing an animal is an extremely harmful practice.

Gypsy, the Syrian Brown Bear, was declawed in the front, which is an extremely harmful practice for Bears since their claws are essential and non-retractable. While we often see this practice being done with big cats by people attempting to keep them as pets, or for public interaction, it is highly unusual with Bears.

Like Laith, this procedure was a cruel attempt to make a 700-pound Bear safer for human contact. Yet, in the end, it does nothing more than leave a lasting challenge that these animals must navigate.

Upon his arrival, Gypsy was immediately fascinated by the endless variety of treats that were given to him. He especially liked the blueberry muffins!

Yet, after eating many large meals filled with mouthwatering food selections, Gypsy is slowly beginning to show signs of being a somewhat picky eater. Like many of his two legged cousins (us), he’s discovering that Salmon, Crab, Lobster and other delicacies are far more exciting than broccoli.

Our hope is that Gypsy will eventually form a bond with a female Brown Bear already living at the Sanctuary - especially since his previous cellmate either died or disappeared just prior to being moved.

When Bagheera first arrived, his head barely lifted even after his transport door was opened. It was painfully clear how little hope he carried with him. He had endured many hardships in life, leaving him cautious and withdrawn. Having seen this many times before, we chose to give him the time and space that he needed to begin feeling secure. In what seems like a remarkably short amount of time, Bagheera has started to rediscover joy. He is be coming more playful and confident, a powerful reminder of what can happen when an animal’s boundaries are honored and their spirit is met with love and respect.

Sharkhan (now nicknamed “Sharkey”) arrived unnaturally thin and showing physical signs that came from a life of harsh confinement. He moves cautiously through his new surroundings, slowly learning to feel safe and confident, much like the other rescued animals.

All the animals arrived with noticeable issues, which ranged from being undernourished to having broken teeth and other previously stated deformities. Everything more or less pointed to a lack of proper medical care.

Thankfully, with our Sanctuary’s ongoing veterinary oversight, and their free access to vast open spaces that mimic natural habitats, they will have every opportunity to reverse the many years of decline that had ravaged their bodies.

Adjusting to sanctuary life is a gradual process, and progress can be found in the simplest moments: taking a bite of a blueberry muffin for the first time or feeling the soft grass beneath their paws. Each of these milestones helps them release the fear and tension they have carried for so long and allows them to begin forming the relationships that are central to their healing, and to our mission.

We will be there for them every step of the way, making up for the time where others failed. Behind every moment of progress stands dozens of caring people.

This rescue was far from simple. Every stage required meticulous planning, veterinary checks, permits, and precise timing.

Delays, setbacks, and security risks tested their rescuers team at every turn. Through persistence and coordination, these animals were given the one thing they had never had before: a chance to live free from exploitation, fear, and confinement.

Their journey is a powerful reminder that hope can exist even in the most challenging circumstances. Thanks to your caring spirit and the support of our sanctuary community, these Lions, Tiger, Jaguar, and Bear now have the freedom to simply be themselves.

None of this would have been possible without your support - so every step they take, and every small moment of joy they feel, reflects the care, commitment, and love that you have given so freely! From all of us at the Sanctuary, and from the animals whose lives you have truly transformed, thank you!

Links:

• Learn more about The Wild Animal Sanctuary
• Read more about this rescue
• Ways to Help