Five rescued moon bears settle into Suffolk wildlife park after 5,500-mile journey
Five moon bears rescued from South Korea's bear bile industry are settling into a new habitat at Jimmy's Farm and Wildlife Park in Suffolk.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Five Asiatic black bears, also known as moon bears, are settling into a new home in Suffolk after being rescued from South Korea's bear bile industry. The animals are now at Jimmy's Farm and Wildlife Park, where a purpose-built reserve called Moon Bear Island has been created for them.
The bears were farmed for bile in their gall bladders, which is used in traditional medicine. South Korea banned the practice in January, leaving around 200 bears in captivity with nowhere to go. A rescue mission involving TV presenter and farmer Jimmy Doherty and the charity Space for the Wild brought five of them to the UK. It is described as a UK first.
The journey was about 5,500 miles. The bears left Seoul on a chartered plane on 10 September, landed at Heathrow Airport around 16 hours later and then travelled to Suffolk by lorry. They have now been at the park for more than a week. Keepers say they are settling in well and look like different animals compared with the state they were in when rescued.
Many had suffered years of neglect. One rescuer, Michaela, said the bears were covered in their own faeces, starving and without water. Some spent decades in tiny cages, and their bile was painfully extracted. Because of abuse and malnutrition, many have rotten or missing teeth. Their food, which includes sweet potatoes, carrots and tomatoes, is sometimes steamed to make it softer.
Staff have recorded a series of firsts: the first time the bears have slept on straw in a comfortable bed, heard a dog barking, had a swim or felt grass beneath their paws. Visitors to the park have welcomed them. One said it was heartbreaking to see them in small cages and a joy to watch them free, eating and roaming.
The rescue was complicated. Organisers said the paperwork was like doing a PhD, with quarantine, government approvals, translation and a transport plane to arrange. There was also a translation mix-up: the Korean word for bear translates as chicken, so early paperwork described the import of five chickens. The park is now working with other wildlife parks to try to rescue and re-home more of the bears left in South Korea. For these five, their past lives are behind them as they settle into the Suffolk countryside.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | ITV |
|---|---|---|
| Bears were rescued from a South Korean farm that used them for bile extraction for traditional medicine. | ||
| South Korea outlawed the bile farming industry at the start of January. | ||
| A journey described as a UK first covered 5,500 miles. | · | |
| Around 200 bears remained in captivity with nowhere to go after the ban. | · | |
| Bears were farmed for bile used in traditional medicine. | · | |
| The rescued bears had rotten or missing teeth due to abuse and malnutrition. | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
ITV1's lunchtime bulletin treated the rescue as a warm closing item, with a reporter inside the new enclosure and a rescue worker interview. It focused on the emotional contrast between the bears' past suffering and their new Suffolk home, and highlighted the UK-first logistics and the Korean translation mix-up. It did not give the later health details or the number of bears still in South Korea.
- “From South Korea to sunny Suffolk, welcome to Moon Bear Island, the new home of five moon bears.”
- “It was animals that were covered in their own faeces, they were starving, they hadn't had water.”
- “Ironically, the Korean for bear actually translates as chicken. So actually we were importing five chickens when we first started.”
The evening programme framed the story as a follow-up a week after arrival, concentrating on the bears' recovery, their diet and dental problems, and local visitors' reactions. It added the wider context that around 200 bears remained in captivity after South Korea's ban, and that the charity Space for the Wild is seeking more rescues. Its tone was softer and more human interest than the lunchtime report.
- “Feeling the grass beneath their paws, and the breeze in their fur, life in the Suffolk sunshine is idyllic compared to the cruelty these bears knew in South Korea.”
- “It's now been a week since they arrived. The bears are slowly being introduced to their new home, and as you can see, they're looking a lot healthier.”
- “It's made my day.”
5 News gave the most procedural account, naming Jimmy Doherty as the driving force and setting out the travel timeline from Seoul to Heathrow and Suffolk. It stressed the series of firsts for the bears and the paperwork challenges, with a more upbeat, magazine-style tone. It also noted that the bile trade is banned in South Korea but still allowed elsewhere.
- “It's only been 12 days since these moon bears touched down on British soil, and already they seem at home.”
- “There's just been a list of so many firsts. You know, the first time they've slept on straw in a comfortable bed, the first time they've heard a dog barking, the first time they've had a swim, the first time they've been on grass.”
- “I mean, just the paperwork alone was like doing a PhD.”
Who was on air
People and organisations each channel put on air while covering this story. Channels' own presenters and reporters are not listed. Names as transcribed, and the list can miss people.
- 17:43 BST
Jimmy Doherty, TV presenter and farmer
“There's just been a list of so many firsts.”
5 News with Dan Walker · Wed 23 Sept
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.