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The Toyono bear has moved to the new house!

On April 9^th, the Toyono bear, who had been kept in a small cage since June 2014, was moved to a new big cage in Toyono, Osaka.

After we were told that the bear would be killed if no one adopted him, we wrote letters to the temples in Toyono. One of them replied to our letter immediately. That was KODAIJI. The chief priest called us saying “Poor bear,,, don’t let them kill the bear. We have enough space for a big cage in our property.” From then on, KODAIJI and JBFS have discussed how we could keep him alive. The temple offered the land and JBFS offered the cage. We faced lots of obstacles until the day of move-in, but finally the day came and on 9^th of April we moved the bear to the new house in KODAIJI!

We have started the fund for this bear called “KUMAHOGOKIKIN” the fund for protection of bears. Although the cage was completed, we’re still low in funds. Therefore, the fund is still open and any support is always welcome.

If you have an account of JAPAN POST BANK, you can help us sending money through it.

The number of postal transfer ( YUBIN FURIKAE) ：00980-7-203246

The account name：KUMAHOGOKIKIN

You can also send us money through banks.

The bank name：JAPAN POST BANK (YUCHO GINKO)

 The branch name：099

The account number ：0203246

Also, the Toyono bear (now named as “TOYO”) and his new house are now open to the public.

We have decided to rear the Toyono bear.

It was such a pity that Osaka had no courage to choose unprecedented method, releasing the bear to the forest. Having asked Osaka to release the Toyono bear for several months, we have decided to rear him in Osaka. We cannot announce the exact place where he will be kept but once we move him, the place will be opened to the public and those who have worried about him.

Thank you to all who have called Pref. Osaka or signed the petition to help him! 

Get the bear back to the forest!

On 19^th of June, a male young bear was caught in a boar trap accidently for the first time in Toyono, Osaka Pref. When a bear is caught mistakingly, in Japan it is a rule that the local government should release the bear immediately where it was caught. BUT Osaka has kept the bear in a small cage for about 3months already. Because it was the fisrt time for Osaka, we JBFA advised Osaka how to deal with this accident. We of course insisted that the bear should be freed in the forest. Despite our suggestion, Osaka hasn’t made any effort to look for the place to release him but just tried to look for someone who can have the bear.

On 20^th of August, Osaka decided to kill the bear saying they hadn’t found neither places to release him nor anyone to have him. This is violation of Wildlife Protection and Hunting Law.

To stop the abuse of the government, it is necessary to reach the governor of Osaka Pref.  Ichiro Matsui. (Here is his twitter  https://twitter.com/gogoichiro) He is responsible for leading the public employees work properly and protect wildlife.

Having had this problem, on 4^th of September Osaka has announced the policy dealing with bear infestaion. According to the policy, Osaka will kill bears if they appear in Osaka. 

The neighboring prefectures release all accidently-caught bears and make an effort to protect wildlife and the ecosystem since bears are under the list of rare and endangered species. It is such an out of date and selfish decision that Osaka made.

Now the bear caught in Osaka is kept under horrible environment in a small dirty cage, where his excreta is left and there is no water place. We are afraid that he might die because of this harsh environment.

We believe that wild bears shouldn’t be kept but should be released in the forest. However, since Osaka have come up with the conclusion that they will not release but kill the bear, we have decided to have him in another place out of necessity prioritizing his life and compliance with the national wildlidfe protection policy.

We do not have facilities for him yet. We are rushing around trying to get ready for having him.