Update on Escaped Bear 'Miracle': Moonbears.org founder .org Gina Moon visits the farm and gets the lowdown

[Kelly Frances]

Miracle was born in a breeding farm in 2006 May.
The farm is a small scale operation, run by a Korean couple in their mid to late 60s, and time is running out for them. The industry made the farm owners rich but they are getting old and have medical issues. Farm owner Lee claims he doesn't wish to continue his business and wishes for someone to buy all his bears from him.
The farm is small, filthy and dry, and lacks any indication of cleaning or preservation efforts.
All resident moon bears can be seen sitting in their own feces, looking utterly lifeless. The Farms 4 bear cubs live in separate cages from their parents and are 5 months old.
The facilities look old and unkempt and the farm is not locked, but is secured by a wire which tells us these bears were never let outside.
The farmer Lee said he told the officials clearly from the beginning that he doesn't want Miracle returned to his farm when she is captured. Therefore, we can assume the words we had previously heard from Wonju Representatives were empty as officials claimed that they must return Miracle because of the private property laws.
It is obvious that there have been no efforts by the environmental Ministry to regulate the farm, or to enforce the law by authority of the Environment Ministry.
Lee's registration documents showed no pictures of the individual bears, making it impossible to distinguish one bear from another.
He started this breeding business in 1990 with the purchase of moon bear pairs; now he owns a total of 16 bears- 12 males and 4 females.
According to Farmer Lee, Miracle seems to be a Korean moonbear, though she was previously assumed to be of Malaysian breed as is often the case with farm bears.
She escaped from her terrible fate through a hole in fencing when she was 16 months old in September 2007 and have lived in wild ever since. She swam across a river which is at least 400 meters wide with a strong current and finally found her freedom.
The damage reported from the nearby farms is minor; it includes a couple of honey pots and some chicken food on 2 separate occasions. This proves that she has been living on her own, adapting to her surroundings with no external aid; an amazing feat from an ecological point of view.
Farmer Lee is quite a gentle guy, and seemed very pleasant – though it is obvious he's been a little inconsistent in his information. Aside from his bear business, he runs a dear farm, which located out in the front of his property while the bear farm is hidden in his back yard.
Despite his background, Famer Lee is quite likable - but he creates pure Purgatory for all of us including himself, because he has admittedly been selling the bears, regardless of age, to anyone who asks (for their gal, for their meat, for their paws.. or even for bile milking farms) and his sole interest is financial gain.
He doesn’t contemplate their pain or death; he feels free of moral responsibilities.
The Environment Ministry of Wonju showed sensitivity toward the issue- they want to keep it quiet so the stories remain out of the public eye.
The plan of capturing the bear and warning the public involved 5 separate attempts. Traps had been used along with warning signs being distributed to public. A dart gun was not considered simply because they didn’t have one and lacked expertise. Instead, professional hunters and hunting dogs were used - 30 hunters with 10 dogs in their first trial and recently, 110 people with 40 hunting dogs in May this year for a 10 day period. The Jirisan Moonbear population restoration center also participated in this project at some point but with no success.
Plans to capture Miracle have been suspended until this Autumn when food supply gets low and the forest becomes thinner.
However, the Wonju office has prepared themselves to act more swiftly when the report comes in from the villages by creating a communication and emergency contact network.
Despite these efforts, we can't deny the feeling that in their documents, there is an absence of scientific involvement.
Now it is very important to us that Miracle is captured and saved. She belongs to wild as she earned her life by living it. A sanctuary plan is now urgently needed. We have options, but we must take initiative to see that Miracle is found and placed in a safe environment.
Miracle is indeed a miracle- our first hope saving the entire population of farmed bears in Korea and for the world.