00:08a
00:09after 17 years this ushery brown bear tasted freedom for the first time
00:13first there is a long snout with two black nostrils as full stops
00:18the mouth is open as if in shock eyes that could be made of glass in a huge
00:24wide head beneath cartoonish round ears.
00:27He waits.
00:28The metal shutter is lifted.
00:31The eyes peer, anxious.
00:33And then the huge paw, nails so long they remind me of Freddy Krueger,
00:38takes a very first step onto grass.
00:41K, a 17-year-old ushery brown bear who has lived in a 6' x 9' cage
00:46since being snatched as a cub from his mother, who was shot by hunters,
00:50places a paw on something that isn't cold, hard concrete.
00:55Yikes.
00:56He snorts.
00:57He can't believe it's soft.
00:59He spies a toy, donated by the local fire service, one of many made from old hoses.
01:06Kai has never owned a toy.
01:08He picks it up and, thrilled, carries it inside his den.
01:12The keepers at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster don't want to cheer,
01:17as that would be alarming.
01:18Instead, water leaks from eyes as phones are held aloft to record this momentous moment.
01:25Kai is one of four bears who existed as living exhibits in the Ainu Culture Museum on Hokkaido,
01:30the northernmost of Japan's islands.
01:33The cubs were once sacrificed, but when that practice ended they were simply locked up.
01:39These brown bears are rare, there are only about 10,000 left in Japan.
01:4318 months ago, western tourists, shocked at the barren conditions, brought the four bears
01:50to the attention of Wild Welfare, a UK charity that helps captive wild animals.
01:55The two brothers, Kai and Rick who, would eat, then vomit, as that gave them something to do,
02:01all four bears would pace, driven mad with boredom.
02:05The museum wanted the bears rehomed, Georgina Groves of Wild Welfare tells me.
02:11They didn't have the facilities.
02:13Unfortunately, we couldn't find anywhere in Japan that would take them.
02:18She got in touch with Yorkshire Wildlife Park, YWP, which has an incredible reputation for
02:24rehabilitating wild animals.
02:27They said yes, of course.
02:29Kai and his fellow inmates were flown 5,400 miles from Japan to the UK, where they arrived
02:35on August 3.
02:37DHL provided air-conditioned road transport, at a discount price, while the bears were flown
02:43in the hold by Japanese airlines.
02:46The journey alone cost £150,000.
02:49A team of five vets, two from Japan, helped with the move, which began in 36C heat.
02:57Only Hanako, the 27-year-old female, the most inquisitive of the four, went willingly into
03:03a crate.
03:04Amu, 27, a gentle giant, and brothers Kai and Riku had to be tranquilised.
03:10The bears were flown first to Tokyo for the connecting flight to Heathrow.
03:14Alan Tevendale, one of the vets, says, We offered them water when we landed and fans
03:21were placed around the cages.
03:23Conditions were not ideal.
03:25We were anxious.
03:26When the bears arrived in Yorkshire, tired and confused, they were given time to emerge
03:32from the crates, and venture into their huge, enriched dents, deep straw beds, water, and
03:38fruit, vegetables, yogurt and eggs.
03:41They were also offered strawberries and, you guessed it, honey.
03:46As greedy as poo, the new diet never touched the sides, says Debbie Porter, animal manager
03:52at YWP, one of a team of five devoted to their care.
03:56It's all a far cry from their diet in Japan, where they lived on scraps.
04:01We have many, many tins of pilchards, adds Debbie.
04:05Hanako and Amu are hidden away in two dens out of bounds to anyone other than their carers.
04:11They will take a few weeks to recover from their journey, not to mention their 27-year
04:16confinement in a cage where they were only able to take four steps.
04:20But today is the first time the two brothers, they do look very alike, says Debbie, have been
04:26offered the freedom of the four-acre, £400,000 compound, enriched, thanks to volunteers, with
04:33climbing frames, a hammock, a giant tire and a wobble pole.
04:38Kai's door is open first, and he takes that well-important first step.
04:43After a sojourn back indoors with his fireman's toy, he ventures out again, this time much bolder.
04:49Rick who, the shire of the two, refuses to leave his den, standing on his back paws unable
04:55to believe his beady eyes.
04:57But there is no stopping Kai.
05:00He's cantering.
05:01Within minutes, having ripped the bark off a tree stump as easily as if it were a plaster,
05:06he has discovered the lake.
05:08Whoosh.
05:09I called Georgina to tell her we're filming Kai swimming.
05:12This is a bear, Georgina says, her voice thick with emotion, who only had three inches of
05:19water in his cage for seventeen years.
05:22Kai splashes.
05:23He dives.
05:24He pulls up the lovingly planted aquatic plants, and eats them.
05:29He emerges, all half a ton of him, and shakes the water from his fur.
05:34The bears know their names but, though being called, Kai is pretending he has gone deaf.
05:40He's refusing to come in.
05:41For the first time in his life, he is being a bear.
05:45The bears have no muscle definition, rotten teeth, and weirdly no eyebrows, the hair has
05:52been eroded by the constant rubbing on the bars of cages.
05:55There are bald patches on bottoms, and their coats are dusty.
06:00Apart from the fur on Kai, of course, now sleek as a knotter, and who is still refusing
06:05to come in.
06:06They are like naughty toddlers, says Cheryl Williams, one of the directors at YWP.
06:13The rescue effort is commendable, bringing the plight of captive Japanese bears to worldwide
06:18attention.
06:20The bears were even an item on the Today program.
06:23Georgina says, we can't rescue the 400 bears left behind.
06:27But we can educate people in Japan about enriching their environments.
06:32For now, Hangako has stopped pacing, while the brothers have stopped vomiting.
06:38Over the next few weeks, they will be allowed outside in pairs.
06:42It's hard to comprehend that, since cubs, they have only been able to touch nostrils through
06:48bars.
06:48It's hoped they will rough and tumble, collapse in a fireman's hammock, and perhaps even give
06:54each other a bear hug.
06:55I'm betting Kai will take Riku by his paw, and lead him gently to the lake to wash away
07:01the past.
07:02As we tuck the bears in for the night, I'm allowed to feed Riku a pair.
07:07He's surprisingly dexterous, and I'm told not to get too close.
07:11But who could blame him if he were to rip a human's head off?
07:14We surely deserve it.
07:16To support the work of Yorkshire Wildlife Parks Charity click here.
07:21You can find more details about the bears by clicking here.
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