Adopt a Bear

Wanted: House-trained bear needs a BIG new home
Last updated at 23:19pm on 10th November 2007

A tiny endangered bear is being kept as a house pet and has all the creature comforts he needs after he was rescued from callous animal traders.

But two-month-old Koda the Andean bear cub cannot stay playing in armchairs and climbing house-plants for long.

His rescuers, an animal rights organisation, are looking for a permanent home for the cub who could grow up to 6 ft and weigh more than 340lbs.

Unlike another famous bear with a fondness for marmalade sandwiches, Koda prefers strawberry yoghurt and chewing on bamboo.

In the wild Koda would eat fruits, but the bears also eat berries, grasses, bulbs, insects, and small animals such as rodents, rabbits, and birds.

The endangered bear is living in the home of animals rights activists in La Paz, Bolivia, where he climbs on the furniture instead of trees as he would have done in his natural habitat.

The Andean bear, also known as the Spectacled Bear, are recorded as "Vulnerable" on the World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Animals.

These endangered animals are known as Spectacled bears due to their distinctive markings

Animal charities are battling to keep the bears in their natural habitat in the Andes range and outlying mountain ranges.

This stretches from western Venezuela south to Bolivia. A few have been reported in eastern Panama and extreme northern Argentina.