Help the Free the Bears Fund to rescue bears who have been trapped, drained of bile or forced to dance …
Submitted
12/29/2008
By
Tegan03
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Updated
1/28/2009
What’s involved?
The aim of the Free the Bears Fund is to rescue all varieties of bear from trappers, those who keep “dancing” bears as entertainment and a source of income, and others who engage in the illegal wildlife trade.
As horrible as the images are of the bears kept in cruel circumstances are, you have to remember that the bear means an income for its human keeper and their family somewhere in the developing world. So in order to properly rescue a bear, the original owner has to be compensated with an appropriate amount – around 1800 dollars. Then there are the medical costs involved in healing each bear, and then the costs of keeping bear sanctuaries. Not cheap. But there’s plenty you can do on any budget to be involved.
Join the Free the Bears Fund:
You can choose from one year to lifetime membership, and keep up to date with all the events happening around Free the Bears. There’s even a Cubz Club for under 13s. www.freethebears.org.au/shop/home.php?cat=255
Buy some merchandise:
What Free the Bears really needs is some publicity. Thanks to Rove McManus becoming a bear ambassador, that’s starting to happen, but why not order a bear bag or calendar online? The prices are pretty reasonable, around the 5-10 dollar mark. www.freethebears.org.au/shop/home.php?cat=248
Sponsor or Rescue a bear:
Anything from a donation of $10, a Bear sponsorship of $200, to a bear rescue of $2000 helps! Why not get your school, church or work group to go in together if it’s too much to handle on your own? Prices for different bears are listed at: www.freethebears.org.au/shop/home.php?cat=252
Volunteer:
If you can afford a ticket to Cambodia to work with the bears in their sanctuary, around $300 will get you a week of volunteering with the bears in their sanctuary, up close and personal.
www.freethebears.org.au/help-bears/volunteer.html
For more information about this and other less expensive volunteering opportunities right here in Oz, email: volunteerasianbears@freethebears.org.au
Why should people do this?
Each bear has a personality and a story. My family couldn’t afford the $1800 to rescue a bear, so we sponsored a little Sun bear called Holly for 6 months, at a price of $185. Originally a black bear, her fur had gone brown from malnutrition, and her right hind paw was missing. She was a nervous little miss at first, but now Holly is happily receiving medical care at the Bear Sanctuary.
This work is licenced under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence.
© 2008. First published on actnow.com.au
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