Bears Bears Bears!!!

I don't even know where to begin every moment I'm spending at the sanctuary is rewarding and memorable. The sounds they make I never EVER expected to come out of a bear! From the audible "NOM NOM NOM" to the noises they make when sucking a paw, something they learn as a coping mechanism during their previous captive lives.

They act and sometimes look like big dogs, lumbering around, rolling around, playing with each other and chasing around. The younger four year olds make the whingiest noises when awaiting their morning porridge and snacks, they honestly sound like cranky toddlers. 

The dexterity they have in their paws is something that you just have to see to believe, delicately pealing bananas and eating the flesh, holding leaves in between their claws and nibbling on it as a royal would. 

I could watch them for hours and thankfully I CAN! The way they run volunteering here is not as a military would, it's all in Cambodian time. There's no pressure to have something done in a certain amount of time and no one gets grumpy when you take a moment to appreciate what the animal is doing especially when it comes to filming or photography. We can take photographs of whatever we like which is a testimate to the confidence this organisation has in what it does and how it does things. The Bears spend 90% of their day outside in their enclosures, some of which are enormous plenty of room to explore and search for their food which we attempt to expertly hide to no avail.

To be continued...