Bears about the House (BBC)

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Sociopolitical Documentary hosted by Andrew Lincoln, published by BBC in 2020 - English narration

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Giles Clark is in Laos, caring for a rescued sun bear cub. Part 1: Giles Clark is embarking on his biggest mission to date – taking on the illegal wildlife trade and helping to build a pioneering new bear sanctuary in Laos, south east Asia. Giles has been asked by good friend Matt Hunt, CEO of Free the Bears, to help for 12 months and is not long into his role when he has to step in to help Mary, a five-month-old sun bear. Mary was rescued after her mother was killed in the wild and was spotted on the back of a truck for sale into the illegal wildlife trade. Fragile and malnourished, she lives with Giles and Matt at home while she needs around the clock specialist care. The other part of Giles’s role is to help build the new bear sanctuary, where Mary will be going as soon as her enclosure is completed. With 31 bears at the sanctuary already, the team are under tremendous pressure as more bears come in. Across Asia, bears in the illegal wildlife trade are sold as trophy pets, used for their body parts in restaurants and processed for traditional Asian medicine. The most valued part of a bear is their gallbladder, an organ that stores bile, which is a digestive fluid that helps break down fat and is thought to have medicinal qualities. Over 10,000 bears across Asia are kept in cages in bear farms so their bile can be extracted to meet demand. Giles and the team are determined to put a stop to this in Laos and are working with the government to one day close down these bear bile farms. The team witness Mary’s developmental milestones and her progress towards becoming a confident bear at her new home at the sanctuary. Giles’s wife Kathryn visits, falls in love with Mary and learns about the shocking truth for bears in the wild. Giles experiences the plight of captive bears first-hand as the team head out on a rescue mission to save two aggressive adult moon bears. Three-year-old brothers Tong and Nunge were captured at only a few weeks old. Their mother was killed, and they were sold as pets. They had been living in a small cage until their rescue. After a short time in quarantine and a positive health check, they are starting their journey to a happy life and are able to venture outside for the first time in their lives. But it is not long before Giles is on the road again. Matt informs him that they immediately have to travel to northern Laos to rescue two vulnerable five-month-old moon bear cubs. Part 2: Giles Clark continues his mission to tackle the illegal wildlife trade and to help build a pioneering new bear sanctuary in Laos. The team are on the road for 14 hours after rescuing two terrified moon bear cubs that were taken from the wild a week ago. The cubs, called David and Jane, are five months old and were seized by the authorities after they were discovered for sale illegally online. Giles takes the cubs home, as they need around-the-clock specialist care. At the sanctuary, Mary the sun bear is now nine months old. Now growing in confidence, she is becoming extremely determined. Mary learns to forage for food, use her climbing skills in trees and even picks up a skill unique to a sun bear – jumping! The sanctuary doesn't have contact with bears as they get older, and as Mary graduates from the nursery and moves into her permanent home, she meets another sun bear, a four-year-old female called Noy. David and Jane develop well and move to the sanctuary. But Giles returns from being away as the sanctuary has received shocking news: there has been a break-in, and Giles has to come to terms with a theft. Security is stepped up, and the sanctuary picks up the pace with construction once more. Finally the quarantine building is finished, meaning that the sanctuary is now ready to receive bears from bear bile farms in Laos. The Laos government has committed to closing these farms when they have somewhere to put the rescued bears. At the end of an eventful year, Giles is more determined than ever to help bears and get them out of the illegal wildlife trade. The team will keep fighting.