Selling young bear cubs as pets is part of Thailand’s thriving illegal wildlife trade. But the lives of these animals bear no resemblance to what you and I might associate with that of a beloved pet. Bonnie, a female Asiatic black bear, and Clyde, a Malayan sun bear, started out as cute and cuddly cubs. As they grew up, they became troublesome and their owner soon tired of them and then lost interest completely. To rid himself of his ‘problem’, he asked the staff at his pig farm to slaughter Bonnie and Clyde for their meat. Luckily a concerned neighbour intervened by buying them to save them from the pot. Now he has nowhere to house them. Every Thai government rescue centre has turned them down because there are simply not enough resources. This is a desperate vicious circle, which so often prevents officials from enforcing the law and allows wildlife traffickers to carry on without fear of prosecution. Please help us to save Bonnie and Clyde so they can live in a decent home.

Since their momentary reprieve Bonnie and Clyde have had to survive in the most shocking conditions. Therefore, they are at the very top of the waiting list at the wildlife rescue centre run by CWI’s Thai Director Edwin Wiek. The centre is already home to 21 bears and countless other wild animal species, including Meow, the tiger and Nushka, the bear. Now Bonnie and Clyde are desperate to find sanctuary there as well.

You may remember Nushka. She was one of the very first animals whose life was saved by CWI’s mobile veterinary clinic in Thailand - the only one in the whole of Indo-China! Two and a half years ago, Nushka was rescued from a small barren cage only a few metres across. It had been her world for almost ten years; ten years that had taken their toll. Forced to sit on soiled concrete, Nushka had developed severe inflammations that had grown into huge open sores on her rump. When our ambulance arrived, the wounds on her back were infested with maggots and Nushka was dying of blood-poisoning. She was a very weak, very sick and very sad bear and had no strength left in her. Back at the sanctuary, she found it difficult to walk and at first struggled to move around by dragging her limp back legs across the ground. But thanks to the generosity of our supporters, Nushka’s life today is unrecognisable. In August 2007 she scaled her first tree in ten years. She has truly blossomed and now shares an enclosure with Bouncer, another Asiatic black bear who lost a limb in a bear trap.

Nushka and Bouncer are living proof of how your donations have saved and changed the lives of animals in dire straits. Together we can do the same for Bonnie and Clyde. Just one pound will buy one square metre of land to build them an enclosure and so bring them closer to a better life. Ten pounds will pay for one metre of fencing that will last a life time. Please help us free Bonnie and Clyde today!

It’s easy to help...

£1 pays for 1 square metre of land for an enclosure

£10 buys 1 metre of fencing that will last 30 years or more

£50 pays for 1 bear’s veterinary care for a whole year

£100 will feed 1 bear for six months

£250 will cover the cost of rescuing 1 bear and bringing it to the sanctuary