Media release
4 March 2011

Matt Hunt of Free the Bears Asia visits Wellington Zoo

Wellington Zoo is excited to announce that Matt Hunt, CEO of Free the Bears Asia, will be visiting Wellington this weekend.

Matt is in Wellington as part of Wellington Zoo’s Big Bite fundraising event on Saturday, which serves a dual purpose; raising funds for the construction of the new ASB Sun Bear enclosure at the Zoo, as well as raising funds for Free the Bears Asia.

Visitors to the Zoo this Sunday are also in for a special treat, as Matt will be presenting the Sun Bear talk as a special guest on Children’s Day.

Matt has lived in South East Asia since 2001 and has spent the last ten years helping to develop wildlife rescue centres, training wildlife law enforcement teams and creating environmental education programmes to increase environmental awareness amongst local people.

Currently based in Cambodia, Matt oversees Free the Bear Asia’s field projects in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Born in the UK, Matt has been working with wildlife for over 20 years.

“We are very pleased to host Matt’s visit as part of Big Bite” said Wellington Zoo Chief Executive Karen Fifield. “The work that Free the Bears Asia does is extremely important, and having him here is a great chance for our staff, visitors and special guests to learn from him”

Wellington Zoo has been working with Free the Bears Asia for many years to raise awareness of the issues that bears face in the wild in Asia.

Sean - one of Wellington Zoo’s sun bears – was rescued by Free the Bears from outside a restaurant in Cambodia. He was first sent to Perth Zoo and came to Wellington Zoo in 2004. Sean is father to the Zoo’s other sun bear Sasa who was born at Wellington Zoo in 2006.

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