A Chinese man recently discovered that the two "pet dogs" he'd been taking care of for the last two years are actually Asian black bears. Wang Kaiyu lives in Maguan County, southwest China's Yunnan Province near the border of Vietnam. Two years ago, he bought two animals that he believed to be puppies from a Vietnamese man.

"When I was working on my banana farm, a Vietnamese man came up and showed me two good looking pups. He said they are good watchdogs, so I bought them," said Wang.

Wang raised the pets very carefully, bathing and grooming them every day. But he started to notice that the animals didn't behave like typical dogs. He saw their appetites grow quickly, leading them to eventually catch and eat chickens.

It wasn't until Wang saw a wildlife protection exhibition hosted by local forestry police that he realized he had been raising two state-protected bears.

"I love them so much. Some people had offered to buy them for a lot of money, but I never agreed," he said.

Wang called the police for help, hoping that the bears could be sent to an appropriate habitat.

On June 30, forestry police contacted the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center of Yunnan. The two bears were then sent there.

Feng Lingui, an officer with the center, said the two Asian black bears, one male and another female, are about three years old and currently in good health.

Asian black bears are listed as a class-II protected species in China.


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