Overview

• Sixteen Asiatic black bear cubs, classified as vulnerable, were rescued from a home in Laos' capital, Vientiane, by conservation charity Free the Bears.
• The rescue, the largest of the year, involved cubs believed to be two to four months old, found undernourished and without their mothers.
• Authorities were alerted to the situation after a neighbor heard the cries of the cubs, leading to the arrest of one Laotian individual.
• The cubs have been transferred to Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary, where they will be bottle-fed and closely monitored.
• This incident underscores the critical threat to moon bears, which are often poached for their bile, used in traditional medicine across Asia.