[RLS] Sun Bear Release

Vet Check | 611 Words

It had been a couple weeks since Iliana had been contacted about assessing some animals rescued from an exotic animal sale ring and ended up bringing back three dingos and a grey wolf to Wolf Hallow Preserve. She was now being called about another opportunity to help out with the rescuing of exotic animals, this time from a breeder. Ares and his twin brother Perses, owners of Wolf Hallow Preserve, were also invited to come along with this time as they were to help in the initial rescuing of animals from where they currently resided.

When the trio arrived later that week at the destination they were met with the most foul smell. After they had begun to walk around with the rescuers they were soon appalled at the housing these animals were kept in. All around them people moved about trying to remove animals from cages and after some talking and walking, Ares, Perses and Iliana were soon helping remove the animals as well.

After all the animals had been removed, Wolf Hallow Preserve would be leaving with seven animals to return to the preserve, however only five of them would be kept at the preserve, the other two would be released. Along with them they had brought a Dhole pair, two Jackals, one Black Baked and the other Side Striped, a Bat Eared Fox and finally a Sun Bear pair that would be released.

Once they had arrived back at the preserve the next day the animals were unloaded and immediately given vet care by Iliana. The male sun bear was rather malnourished but other than that he seemed fine, no serious wounds or visible illness. Iliana still took blood though to be sent off to a lab like she did with all the animals to make sure there were no hidden issues.

The female however had cuts on the pads of her paws and had evidently given birth within the past year or so as she still had milk. Except no cubs had been found by the time they arrived, meaning they had already been sold before they could be rescued. Iliana frowned, shaking the thought away as she set to work on the bear’s paws, cleaning and disinfecting them before putting a salve on them. Iliana too took her blood to be sent off.

After the bears had finished with their checking over, they were placed in the same quarantine pen together and given a hefty load of meat which they immediately began to eat. It was clear that they had not been fed properly in quite some time. As Iliana watched the bears for a moment, Ares walked up behind her. “How do they look?” He asked her, glancing at his wife before looking at the bears.

“They’re definitely underweight, nothing too serious as far as wounds and I;ve collected their blood. The other animals are the same, with minor injuries and malnutrition.” Iliana said, turning back to look at her husband. “I’ve got high hopes for them all though.” She smiled softly. “It may take some time however, but I believe they will all do just fine.” She then turned back to watch the bears a moment longer before departing to check on other animals.

Ares watched after his ever busy wife with a smile. Though Wolf Hallow was a preserve for as the name may suggest, mainly wolves and other canids, Ares had agreed to take the sun bears as they would be released. He was happy to help out the rescue and hoped this would give the preserve opportunities to help more in the future, whether it was with canids or not.

Finding Shelter | 434 Words

Once the sun bear pair had been healthy enough to move from the quarantine pens, they were brought to the viewing pens. These were much larger fenced areas near the front of the park with plenty of space to roam and freedom to search. Often the animals for release and those not yet suitable for the preserve were housed in the viewing pens. Currently there was the sun bear pair in one pen, the Dhole pair in another, the two jackals were put in the same pen though different types, they were also male and female. Lastly the bat eared fox was alone in his own pen.

Bruno, the male was the first to step out from the moving crate he was transported in from the quarantine pen. He huffed, sniffing the air as he lumbered about, eyes scanning the area. Lyra, the female, soon excited her moving crate when she noticed Bruno was out. Lyra stepped towards Bruno, seeking safety from the male she had been paired with the last few years, the one who had lived in the cramped space with her that whole time.

Bruno turned his head towards Lyra and gave the female an affectionate nuzzle, glad they had not been separated when they had been rescued. He was curious now looking around his new home. Bruno had not always lived a life in a pen, he was once a cub born in the wild, only to have his mother poached from him. He and his siblings had been taken and separated, he never saw them again. The memory was faint but the instincts remained.

Lyra however had been born in captivity, in fact she had been born at that very facility she was rescued from. She was to replace her mother as she had grown old, then Bruno was purchased to be her mate. The young bears had grown together and now they were learning to be free together.

Bruno led the way with Lyra following after him, away from the crates and away from the fence. He’d had enough of humans for now. He headed towards the trees at the back of the fencing, though he did not know there was yet a fence back there. In this viewing pen there had been two dens made, there was a large dirt underground den, though it was more wolf sized or could perhaps fit one of the bears. There was also a cave den that was definitely more bear sized. And it was this den that Bruno had found and decided it would suit Lyra and him just fine.

The Release | 404 Words

Bruno and Lyra were finally ready for release. It had been a long few months at Wolf Hallow Preserve getting them ready to be released back into the wild, but they were ready. Ares, Perses and Iliana were all excited for their release, they had all worked hard with the bears on preparing them for this moment. They had taken part in rescuing them from their previous home, if you’d even call it a home, more of a prison and now these magnificent creatures would be heading out into the wild to help their population.

Ares and Iliana would unfortunately not be there to see their release as they were staying in North Dakota at the preserve, while Perses and his fiancee Alexander would be flying out to Southeast Asia with the sun bear pair to see them off.

Soon enough the day had come and the bears were loaded into crates and put in the back of the transportation truck. Perses and Alexander too loaded their bags into the truck and said their goodbyes before driving off to the airport. From there the four took a few flights but had soon arrived in Malaysia where they met with their conservation contact for the release.

The bears were checked over after their flight and given some time to rest and eat in a holding pen for the night before they were to be released the following day. Perses and Alexander too retired to their own hotel room to rest after the long flights.

The next morning Perses and Alexander were up early to go meet with Amir, their conservation contact. They helped load the bears into the trucks and then rode out with them to their open wildlife preserve. The crates were unloaded and the doors opened. The humans stepped back in anticipation.

Again, Bruno was the first one out from the crate with Lyra quickly following him. The pair gazed around, they could tell this land was much different from where they had previously been. However it was familiar to Bruno, he had come from this land before being brought to America and used for profit. He was home, and now Lyra was too. Bruno looked behind him at the humans, dipping his head almost in thank you before him and Lyra took off. Alexander made sure to get plenty of pictures and even a couple videos of the sun bears being released.