Kuang Si Falls

15 Apr 2016
Rachael, Ali, Tash and I decided to get up early and head to the Kuang Si Waterfalls. We took a tuk tuk about an hour into the countryside. At the entrance of the falls was an asiatic black bear rescue center. The manager of the center, Luke, just happened to be doing a walkthrough upon our arrival. After chatting with him for a few minutes, he took us around to the "employee only" entrance and walked us through the enclosure to the bear cub area. Ali, Tash, Rachael and I got to watch 6 bear cubs interact just feet from where we were standing. Luke went on to explain how the asiatic black bear population is endangered because of the illegal bear trade in SE Asia. Not only does the center rescue bears, but they also educate the local community about the bear trade. I didn't understand why poaching bears would be such a problem, but Luke explained it in this way: Laos is ninth on the list of most impoverished countries in Asia; more than 1/3 of the population earns less than 1 USD per day. 800 USD would drastically change the quality of life for a Laos worker and his family and Chinese traders know this. Traders offer the Laos workers money in exchange for help poaching the bears. Once the traders get access to the bear, they sell it in China for THIRTY TIMES the amount they paid the Laos worker. The reason the bear trade is so profitable is because owning an asiatic black bear is a sign of wealth and power; many high ranking officials purchase bears to keep in their homes as a symbol of their status! Free the Bears isn't only rescuing bears, but they're also entering schools and educating local children regarding the illegal bear trade. In order to keep future generations from poaching bears they need to be educated about why it's a problem.
After watching the cubs play, Luke introduced us to another bear, Champa, whose story is absolutely remarkable. Champa developed hydrocephalus (water on the brain) which caused her to lose most of her vision, stunted her growth and caused erratic behavior. Free the Bears advised euthanasia, but because Laos is a buddhist country, the government wouldn't allow it. Free the Bears had to come up with another solution. They called in Pizzi, a veterinarian living in Edinburgh, and asked him to perform laparoscopic brain surgery on Champa. Although the conditions in Laos were much different from those in Scotland (unreliable electricity, no MRI machine and hot, hot weather) Pizzi agreed. Champa is now a healthy, thriving bear.
Check out the organization and the story here:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/04/130411-bear-brain-surgery-laos-wildlife-trafficking/
http://www.freethebears.org/

After spending over an hour at the bear sanctuary, we started our trek up the falls. The water was beautifully pristine and freezing cold. On our way back from the falls we got completely soaked from the locals throwing water at us in celebration of the new year.