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A. Neuman Bubu Mug mug
A. Neuman Bubu Mug
by Andean_Bear_Bubu
Bubu Star Christmas Ornament
Bubu's Portrait Mousepad
by Andean_Bear_Bubu
A. Castellanos- Bubu's Nose shirt
A. Castellanos- Bubu's Nose
by Andean_Bear_Bubu
Bubu Notecard PB1 card
Bubu Notecard PB1
by Andean_Bear_Bubu


Bubu, Orphaned Andean Bear Cub

Bubu is a male Andean bear who was rescued as a cub by the Andean Bear Foundation.  We believe that his mother was killed, some time in early 2009, leaving him an orphan.  He was kept for a while in a private house, in unsuitable conditions, then sent to another place which also did not have space for him.  Then Bubu was rescued and Quito Zoo very kindly kept him in quarantine for several months.  The zoo did not really have enough space for Bubu, but at least he was safe and had a proper diet and veterinary care.
Bubu was moved to a temporary new home in the spring of 2010, where he lived while we prepared the rehab cage up on the paramo.  We are very grateful to Bubu's temporary landlord, Sr. Kohn, who took care of him, and also to the many friends who donated to help us purchase the materials needed to repair the rehab cage.  
In June 2010 Bubu was moved to the rehabilitation cage up on the paramo at Hacienda Yanahurco, where he learnt what to eat in the wild.  Bubu's rehab cost about $35 a day and we are very grateful for the donations we received to pay for this.  Once he grew large enough and learned to eat the foods he will find in the cloud forest and paramo, Bubu was ready to be fitted with a collar to track his movements and released.  We were hoping the Ecuadorian Army would help us out with a helicopter as they did with our last bear liberation - see the bear release video here.  The attempt in December 2010 unfortunately didn't work out as planned, despite their best efforts, but we remain grateful for all the work and planning which went into it.  
On 9th March 2011, Bubu was liberated, thanks to the efforts of Yanahurco's owner Fernando Cobo, producers László Károlyi and William McNamara, Boutique Hotel Café Cultura, Exclusive Hotels And Haciendas Of Ecuador, the film team Rene Aguilar, Carlos Gabela, Gabriel Gonzalez and Anita Benítez, and others.  We are very grateful to Esteban Saltos of ICARO for loaning the helicopter and pilot Mario Acosta, who did a fantastic job under very difficult circumstances.  We would also like to thank our anonymous supporters who prefer not to be named but are nonetheless very much appreciated.  We asked for Bubu to be liberated in the Cimarrones mountains, in a remote part of Hacienda Yanahurco.   
Unfortunately, a month later, Bubu found his way back to Yanahurco ranch and for his own safety, we had no choice but to treturn him to his rehab cage.  He has shown that he has can survive on his own and has been finding enough food in the wild.  We were surprised by Bubu’s return, and wondered how he had found his way back, but enquiries revealed that he was not left in the remote location where Armando instructed but, due to bad weather, the pilot was forced to select another spot “nearby” to leave Bubu.  Since there was not space in the helicopter for Armando, and none of the occupants of the helicopter are familiar with Yanahurco, they did not realize that the spot they chose is a destination for tourist groups on horse rides from Yanahurco.  For Bubu with his sensitive nose, this was the equivalent of being left by the motorway – a clear route straight back “home”, and only 6km away rather than the 21km we had requested. For a male Andean bear, a walk of 6km is nothing at all, an afternoon stroll, so Bubu obviously chose to investigate his surroundings for a while before coming back.  It is a compliment to his keepers that he seems to regard Yanahurco as a place of security. 
Wild bears only put on weight at certain times of year when there is excess food available, which doesn’t happen often.  We always fatten bears up before liberating them, to give them a good start in the wild.  In all the successful liberations we have carried out, the bears have lost weight, built muscle and are now living wild, free and slender as nature intended.  Bubu has proved that he will do well if he is only left somewhere suitable, and we are more determined than ever that he has a future as a wild bear.  We continue to learn.  Every bear is different and this gives us the opportunity to improve the way we handle liberations in the future.  
Bubu was liberated again in September 2011, but returned just a few weeks later.  We had hoped he would be left undisturbed in his new home for a while, but a group of tourists headed out that way very soon and a couple of days later, Bubu was back.  He's now back in his cage and we are working on arranging a larger helicopter to be able to release him in a more remote area.  
Bubu has his own profile Bubu Bear on Facebook and has made many friends around the world who help and encourage him and us on his journey.  Many thanks to them all. Thanks to Dawn Edwards, you can also find Bubu's photo gallery on Flickr.  
Bubu organised a Big Event to raise awareness of the Andean bear.  He asked his friends to organise a social event anywhere in the world, any time between 1st and 4th October 2010, tell their guests about Andean bears and about Bubu, and send us photos of it.  Friends also joined us online and the event was a great success.  Bubu challenged his friends to take this quiz about Andean bears as a fun way to spread the word.  All the information you need for the quiz is here on this website, but if you want to check, download the Andean bear quiz answers.  You can download a PDF of Recipes for Bubu's Big Event, sent in by friends using ingredients that Andean bears like to eat.  If you enjoy the recipes, you might like to make a donation using one of the methods suggested below.  

Ways to help the ABF rescue, rehabilitate & liberate Andean bear cubs:

Buy from Bubu's Zazzle Store
Select from t-shirts, mousemats, coffee mugs, keyrings and many more products featuring Bubu and other Andean bears.  The profits go the Andean Bear Foundation, who will use them towards the costs of rehabilitation of orphaned cubs and their release back to the wild.  Make sure you use these links to Bubu's Zazzle Store USA, Bubu's Zazzle Store UK, Bubu's Zazzle Store Canada or Bubu's Zazzle Store Australia, in this way the ABF will receive a referral bonus at no cost to you.
Donate Online
Donations to support the work of the Andean Bear Foundation can be made online, using PayPal - just click on the button on the right and we will know that the money is for cubs like Bubu.  PayPal charge us 2.2% + $0.30 per transaction from within the USA, or 3.9% + $0.30 from outside the USA.  If you prefer you can enter PayPal through your own account, rather than the button below, and on the send money page, click Personal, then Gift, then opt to pay the fees yourself rather than having them taken out of the donation.  Whichever method you choose, we end up closer to being able to free Bubu or another Andean bear than we were before.  Many thanks for your help!
The other online option to donate to orphaned cubs like Bubu, if you have a Facebook account, is at our "Save Orphaned Andean Bears" Cause.  which takes a flat processing fee of 4.7%.  Other Causes users will be able to see your name and the amount you donated.  Thank you for your support!
Buy yourself a Bubu bracelet
Online gift store Into the Wild designed an acai bead bracelet with bear charm especially for Bubu's friends and they donate $5 to the Andean Bear Foundation for each one sold.  Fans of Into the Wild on Facebook get discounts.
Bubu, Orphaned Andean Bear Cub
Save the bear cubs!  Donate to the Andean Bear Foundation to help us get other bear cubs like Bubu back to the wild where they belong.
Acai bead bracelet with bear charmInto the Wild logoPlush spectacled bear toy

Bubu the Andean bear cub
Bubu the orphaned bear cub
Donate with PayPal
to help us return Bubu and other cubs to the wild:
Bubu the orphaned bear cub at the zoo
Bubu, an orphaned spectacled bear
Bubu, orphaned Andean bear cub
Bubu the bear cub in his temporary home
Bubu bear tranquilized ready for his journey
Bubu bear in the helicopter ready to begin his journey