Endangered Asian Black Bear Pair Raised By Man Who Thought They Were Dogs

Fact checked
Asian Black Bear

A Chinese man was shocked to discover that the adorable young pair of dog puppies he has raised for two years are actually a pair of an endangered Asian Black Bear!

The Daily Mail reports [1]

Wang Kayui, from the village of Yunnan, bought the cubs two years ago from a Vietnamese man, while he was planting banana trees on the border on China and Vietnam.

However, it was only when he read some conservation leaflets that he realised that his ‘puppies’ were actually an endangered species, reported People’s Daily Online [2]. 

To begin with, Wang had no idea that there was anything unusual about his pets and he bathed and groomed them everyday.

The proud owner also said that the cubs were very well behaved and had healthy appetites. 

Asian Black Bear

Alarm bells only began ringing when the animals grew up, as alongside gaining a greater desire for food, the pair started looking less and less like dogs and weighed 100lbs each.

They also displayed strange behaviour, such as killing and eating Wang’s pet chickens.

Despite this, it was only when Wang saw some leaflets from the local Public Security Bureau on endangered wild animals, that he recognised that he had been illegally keeping Category 2 protected endangered animals by accident. 

Asian Black Bear

After talking to his family, Wang decided to give the two bears to the local Forest Public Security Bureau, in the hope that the police would be able to re-home the animals for him.

On 30th June, the police came to take Wang’s pets from the cages in which he had been keeping them and they were taken in by the Yunnan Wild Animal Rescue Centre.

Feng Lingui, a spokesman for the animal rescue centre, said that the animals have been identified as two Asian black bears, a male and a female, and are in good health. 

The rescue centre is now working on suitable arrangements for the furry siblings.

Asian black bears are classed as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Asian Black Bear

This is mainly because of deforestation and people hunting them for their body parts. 

However, the large animals are not considered safe to keep as they frequently attack humans without any serious provocation. 

Sources:

[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3146909/Pet-owner-shocked-two-puppies-bought-raised-two-years-actually-BEARS.html?ito=social-facebook

[2] http://society.people.com.cn/n/2015/0701/c136657-27238612.html

Royce Christyn

Royce Christyn

Journalist at News Punch
Documentarian, Writer, Producer, Director, Author.
Royce Christyn

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