Endangered bears settle in to their new home

Having spent 27 years in tiny cages, four Japanese bears have now got a new home in the UK.

Riku, Kai, Hanako and Amu are endangered brown bears.

They used to live at the Ainu Cultural Museum on Hokkaido, one of Japan's islands.

The museum wasn't able to look after them any longer and their cages were old and very small, so they needed somewhere else to live.

There was no room for them at any of the zoos in Japan so one in England offered to take them.

It meant a journey of more than 5400 miles from Japan to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

A team of experts, including a vet from England and two from Japan, spent nearly seven hours moving the bears into crates so they could be brought over.

Debbie Porter, animal manager at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, said:

One of the bears, Kai, steps outside in to his new home for the first time.

"The 27-year-old female Hanako was very playful when we were loading her - at one point she tried to grab a hose pipe, she was very curious about what was going on. She is very sassy and extremely bright. She does like people so it should be quite fun when we get her settled at home."

The first bear to step out in to their new home was Hanako. She immediately ate some food before going for a splash in her water trough.

The oldest bear Amu was the most reluctant to see his new home so he was left quietly for few hours to make his own mind up about coming out. We like his style!

Because their new home is so different to their old one, the bears will slowly get to see the rest of the area they now live in.

A charity in the UK, called Wild Welfare, which works around the world to improve the conditions animals are kept in, helped bring the bears to the UK.

Georgia Groves, from the charity, said:

"It's great that these four bears have a new home at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. It has a great track record and we know they will provide the bears with a home where they can receive the rehabilitation, enrichment and life-long care they need."

Now that's a story with a furry good ending.