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April 11, 2007
Waterfall, Bears and Tiger
While in Luangprabang we went to see a waterfall. We weren't expecting too much as it is dry season so we thought there would not be much water in the river but it turned out to be pretty amazing.
The waterfall was spectacular and really massive, with lots of pools that we swam in on the way. Then at the top you could look down on it all.
In the same area we came across an enclosure with bears in it. They turned out to be moon bears that had been rescued from poachers as cubs. Apparently there are a lot of this type of bear in the area and poachers take them to put in bile farms, so the bile can be used in chinese medicine. The guy there told us that they rescue about three every year but it could be so many more. They are at present building another, much bigger enclosure so they can take more and eventually hope to be able to release some of the bears back in to the wild.
In another enclosure nearby there was a tiger. Same story, it had been rescued from poachers about three years ago and it's mother had been killed. So it has lived here ever since. The tiger did look good but maybe slighly bored. It's enclosure was big with lots of trees and vegetation but it did look bored.
Posted by admins at April 11, 2007 7:40 AM