Miracle was born on a breeding farm in the spring of 2006. The farm is run by Mr. and Mrs. Lee, an aging Korean couple. Bear bile farming made them rich, but they are getting old and ill and don't want to continue the bear bile business. They want someone to buy all of their bears so they can retire. The bile farm is small, filthy and miserable for bears. For Miracle, it was a torture chamber. The couple fed her pig�s food, and sometimes even meat from the flesh of other bears. All day and night she laid in her own filth, locked in a cage that was never cleaned. Next to her, in another cage, a traumatized 3-legged moonbear cub wrestled with madness. One day, no longer able to cope with the pain of bile extraction and agony of mental terror, Miracle somehow escaped and swam across a river, where she found freedom in the wild.

But ... Authorities want Miracle back; she's an issue they do not know how to handle. They set traps for her and sent 30 armed hunters with 10 dogs chasing after her. When that attempt to capture Miracle failed, they sent another 110 hunters with 40 hunting dogs to track her down in May. Miracle has eluded them all. She's been living off wild honey, farmers' crops and chickens and the shear will to survive. Current plans to capture Miracle have been suspended until fall, when food supply gets low and the forest becomes thinner. If captured alive, Miracle could end up back on Lee's bile farm or the farm of another Korean bile broker.

Body Parts

Farmer Lee has admitted to selling bears, regardless of age, to anyone who wants their gall bladders, their meat or their limbs. He doesn�t consider their pain or death. For Lee and his fellow bile farmers, bears are not fellow Earth Beings; they are a commodity, a product to broker for personal gain. He feels free of moral responsibilities.

Another Option

With enough public pressure, it is possible that the authorities will spare Miracle's life and allow her to live freely in the forest, or, if captured, to be handed over to a bear sanctuary, where she will be cared for by compassionate and loving people. You can help make sure Miracle doesn't end up dead by ambush or barely alive back on a bile farm.

1. Put pressure on the Korean government. Write letters!
The Minister of the Environment -
Attention:
Mr. Lee Maan-ee
KyungGi-do, GwaCheun-si, KwanMun-ro 88
JungAng-dong 1, GwaCheeun complex, (427-729)


Wonju Regional Environmental Office
Attention:
Director-General Mr. Kim, Hyung-seop,
Mr.Shin Sang-yeop/ Nature Environment Section
Kangwon-do, Wonju-si, Myungryun-dong, Dangu-ro 327, (220-947)
Tel : (033)764-0982


Hwacheon Governer's Office
Attention:
Mr. Jeong, Gab-cheol,
Mr.Ji Mu-ryong/ Environment Planning Section
KangWon-do, Hwacheun-gun, Hwacheun-up, Ahri 239, (209-804)
Tel: (033)442-2855


President Lee Myung Bak
1 Cheongwadae-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea 110-820
Email: foreign@president.go.kr
Phone: 82.2.730.5800


2. Spread the word so others can get involved!
3. Donate to moonbears.org
4. If you're a teacher, visit http://www.moonbears.org/contribute.html to see how you can help us educate children about the animals in Korea and the bear bile trade.

moonbears.org is developing a strategy to save Miracle's life. The key element in the strategy is to build a sanctuary on protected land. There are only 16 moonbears left in the wild in South Korea. By contrast, more than 1,600 moonbears are imprisoned on bile farms in South Korea. We can set them free, one bear at a time, one farm at a time. Please help save Miracle's life, and we can save the life of the other bears that shared her hell on the Lee farm.

*Special thanks to URSA FREEDOM PROJECT Team members for their continual support and fantastic vision. Join http://ursafreedomproject.ning.com today and join the struggle!

Whacheun Bear Farm Report

Miracle was born in a breeding farm in 2006 May.

The farm is a small scale operation, run by a Korean couple in their mid to late 60s, and time is running out for them. The industry made the farm owners rich but they are getting old and have medical issues. Farm owner Lee claims he doesn't care to continue his business and wishes for someone to buy all his bears from him.

The farm is small, filthy and dry, and lacks any indication of cleaning or preservation efforts. The bears are fed pig�s food, though in the past, they have been given bear meat when available. This sort of diet is extremely unhealthy and inadequate for the animals. Not a drop of water in sight!

All resident moon bears can be seen sitting in their own feces, looking utterly lifeless. The Farms 4 bear cubs live in separate cages from their parents and are 5 months old. Also present is one 3-legged moon bear that is kept isolated in a small cage- obviously traumatized, and moving endlessly, showing his temper. He is a young bear cub of approximately one year.

The facilities look old and unkempt and the farm is not locked, but is secured by a wire, which tells us these bears were never let outside.

The farmer Lee said he told the officials clearly from the beginning that he doesn't want Miracle returned to his farm when she is captured. Therefore, we can assume the words we had previously heard from Wonju Representatives were empty as officials claimed that they must return Miracle because of the private property laws in Korea.

It is obvious that there have been no efforts by the environmental Ministry to regulate the farm, or to enforce the law by authority of the Environment Ministry.

Lee's registration documents showed no pictures of the individual bears, making it impossible to distinguish one bear from another.

He started this breeding business in 1990 with the purchase of moon bear pairs; now he owns a total of 16 bears- 12 males and 4 females.

According to Farmer Lee, Miracle seems to be a Korean moon bear, though she was previously assumed to be of Malaysian breed as is often the case with farm bears.

She escaped from her terrible fate through a hole in fencing when she was 16 months old in September 2007 and have lived in wild ever since. She swam across a river, which is at least 400 meters wide with a strong current and finally found her freedom.

The damage reported from the nearby farms is minor; it includes a couple of honey pots and some chicken food on 2 separate occasions. This proves that she has been living on her own, adapting to her surroundings with no external aid; an amazing feat from an ecological point of view.

Farmer Lee is quite a gentle guy, and seemed very pleasant, though it is obvious he's been a little inconsistent in his information. Aside from his bear business, he runs a deer farm, which located out in the front of his property while the bear farm is hidden in his back yard.

Despite his background, Farmer Lee is quite likable - but he creates pure Purgatory for all of us including himself, because he has admittedly been selling the bears, regardless of age, to anyone who asks (for their gal, for their meat, for their paws.. or even for bile milking farms) and his sole interest is financial gain.

He doesn�t contemplate their pain or death; he feels free of moral responsibilities.

The Environment Ministry of Wonju showed sensitivity toward the issue- they want to keep it quiet so the stories remain out of the public eye.

The plan of capturing the bear and warning the public involved 5 separate attempts. Traps had been used along with warning signs being distributed to public. A dart gun was not considered simply because they didn�t have one and lacked expertise.

Instead, professional hunters and hunting dogs were used - 30 hunters with 10 dogs in their first trial and recently, 110 people with 40 hunting dogs in May this year for a 10 day period. The Jirisan Moon bear population restoration center also participated in this project at some point but with no success.

Plans to capture Miracle have been suspended until this autumn when food supply gets low and the forest becomes thinner.

However, the Wonju office has prepared them to act more swiftly when the report comes in from the villages by creating a communication and emergency contact network.

Despite these efforts, we can't deny the feeling that in their documents, there is an absence of scientific involvement.

Now it is very important to us that Miracle is captured and saved.

She belongs to wild as she earned her life by living it. A sanctuary plan is now urgently needed. We have options, but we must take initiative to see that Miracle is found and placed in a safe environment.

Miracle is indeed a miracle- our first hope for saving the entire population of farmed bears in Korea and for the rest of the world.

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