Briton saves five bears from cages in South Korean camp in extraordinary rescue mission

The animals — named Bara, Rumi, Saebit, Yonggi and Huimang — had spent their entire lives caged on the farm before TV presenter and conservationist Jimmy Doherty led the mission to bring them to safety.

The operation was coordinated by Space for the Wild, the wildlife park's official charity, alongside the Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA).

It represents a landmark moment in animal conservation: never before have Moon Bears been rescued from South Korea's bear bile trade and rehomed in the UK. The Suffolk park is the first organisation anywhere to achieve this.

South Korea's bear bile industry, which involved extracting bile from the gallbladders of captive bears for use in traditional medicine, was officially banned on 1st January 2026 following years of pressure from animal welfare campaigners.

The prohibition, however, created an immediate crisis. Roughly 200 bears remained locked in facilities across the country, with sanctuary capacity far too limited to accommodate them all.

One of the five bears now in Suffolk, Bara, had been confined at the bile farm since 1998 — nearly three decades behind bars.

Five bile bears have been rehomed from South Korea to the UK for the first time

JIMMY'S FARM AND WILDLIFE PARK

For the animals still awaiting placement, the situation is dire. Without suitable long-term homes, the bears face the threat of being put down, making the search for appropriate sanctuaries a matter of urgency.

Mr Doherty and his team made their first trip to South Korea in March 2026, visiting the former bile farm to see the conditions the bears had endured.

"I will never forget meeting the bears for the first time. It was truly hell on earth. You cannot un-see these things," Mr Doherty said.

"It made us all the more determined and focused on our mission — to get these bears safe, protected and living a profoundly better life."

The bears were held captive in South Korea

JIMMY'S FARM AND WILDLIFE PARK

He added: "The work, dedication and public support of so many have made this a reality. I couldn't be more grateful to all involved."

That initial visit in March set in motion an intensive six-month operation stretching across two continents to bring the rescue to fruition.

The effort involved raising funds, securing complex international permits, meeting stringent veterinary requirements and solving the considerable logistical puzzle of moving five bears safely halfway around the world.

A purpose-built woodland reserve was also built at the Suffolk site.

While still in South Korea, the bears were transferred from the bile farm into temporary specialist care to receive urgent veterinary treatment.

The TV star and conservationist documented the bears' rescue in a new Channel 4 show

PA

Their new enclosure, dubbed "Moon Bear Islands," is a wooded sanctuary set within the park's countryside surroundings. It has been designed specifically around the behavioural and welfare needs of Asiatic Black Bears.

For the first time in their lives, Bara, Rumi, Saebit, Yonggi and Huimang will have the freedom to climb, swim, forage and rest among trees and grass — granted the simple luxury of space and choice.

The rescue forms part of Mr Doherty's wider commitment to providing permanent homes for bears in need, a journey documented in the Channel 4 series "Jimmy's Big Bear Rescue."

In 2023, the wildlife park opened "The Lost Lands of the Tundra," which became Europe's largest polar bear reserve, after taking in a polar bear from a Swedish wildlife park that was closing down.

A brown bear named Diego was subsequently rescued from the same facility. That experience prompted Mr Doherty to establish Space for the Wild, which now funds a range of conservation initiatives including "Bear Again," a bear orphanage project in Romania.