Colchester Zoo is one of Essex's most famous attractions.

Loves by both kids and grown ups, the zoo provides a whole day full of fun.

Visitors can see animals from across the globe and learn all about them and what it takes to look after them.

Although in the zoo they are all well cared for and don't go without, some of Colchester Zoo's residents haven't always had life this way and have been rescued from terrible situations.

A lot of the history of what happened before they went to the zoo is unknown for many of the animals.

One pair who's story is very well know however are the zoo's two sun bears.

Sun bears

They are named after the crest on their chests
They are named after the crest on their chests

Srey Ya and Jo-Jo have been at Colchester Zoo since September 2010 after being rescued in their home country.

Sun bears are native to the forests in Southeast Asia and are one of the most vulnerable bear species.

It is estimated that the population has declined by 30 per cent in the past 30 years with their biggest threat coming from humans.

One of the biggest threats to sun bears is the medicine trade. There is a belief in Chinese medicine that sun bear bile can be used to cure liver and gall bladder illnesses.

Sadly, Jo-Jo and Srey Ya were both rescued from terrible situations like this.

Jo-Jo's story

Jo-Jo was rescued from a karaoke bar
Jo-Jo was rescued from a karaoke bar

Jo-Jo had a horrible start to life, and was extremely lucky to be rescued in June 2007.

He was found when he was six months old in a karaoke bar in Cambodia.

Jo-Jo was being used to entertain guests as an attraction.

He was kept in a small, cramped cage which was very rarely cleaned and he had no hair on his bottom because of it.

Jo-Jo ans Srey Ya were paired together at the Cambodian Bear Sanctuary in Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre.

They were both nursed back to health and learnt how to be sun bears together before travelling together to Colchester Zoo.

Srey Ya's story

Srey Ya

Before moving to Colchester Zoo, Srey Ya's, whose name means 'girl of the village', life was at huge risk.

She was found in a village in north-east Cambodia when she was barely a week old.

When she was rescued by the charity Free the Bears, Srey Ya weighed just 300g, one of the smallest bears they had ever rescued.

She hadn't yet opened her eyes and was suffering from pneumonia.

Srey Ya arrived at Colchester Zoo in September 2010 alongside Jo-Jo after they were confiscated by Government Anti-Poaching Patrols in Cambodia.

Srey Ya and Jo-Jo today

The two bears have lived together at Colchester Zoo for just over nine years.

They enjoy a large enclosure which is built to provide a natural environment and allow them to act as they would in the wild.

It has a waterfall into a pool where they can cool off in the summer as well as a huge climbing frame they can play on.


Their enclosure features both indoor and outdoor areas, and they also have private places they can go to away from the publics view.

Colchester Zoo say that Srey Ya particularly enjoys a hammock in the indoor enclosure, a place were her keepers can always find her.

They describe Srey Ya as an 'intelligent and adventurous' bear.

A spokesperson said:  "Of our two sun bears, Srey Ya is the clever one, but can be a little bossy at times; she definitely ‘wears the trousers’ in the relationship."

Jo-Jo on the other hand is describes by the zoo as a 'typical man' and 'on the lazy side.

"He has very little patience when it comes to enrichment," a spokesperson continued.

"Rather than taking time to figure out new things, he just destroys it to get to any food hidden inside.

"On other occasions, he has been seen waiting for Srey Ya to work out how new enrichment works; just as she’s about to figure it out and get a treat, he’ll come along and steal it!

"He will even try to get on her favourite hammock the minute she has moved from it."

The zoo say Jo-Jo is cheeky and lazy

"He has a cheeky personality so pushes his luck sometimes, but knows that she is the boss in the end.

"Jo-Jo really likes the water and will spend much more time chilling in the pool than Srey Ya."

Srey Ya and Jo-Jo are part of the European Studbook Programme. Breeding programmes are important to help create healthy back up populations in captivity, to help keep the population alive against threats in the wild.

Action for The Wild

As well as re-homing animals from troubled backgrounds, Colchester Zoo also does a lot of work to protect wildlife across the globe.

The zoo's charity, Action for The Wild supports campaigns and conservation efforts all over the world.

Since it's creation in 2004, Action for The Wild has donated more than £2million to conservation projects that have helped a huge range of animals.

They also run the UmPhafa Private Nature Reserve in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, where they release native animal species such as zebra, giraffe and white rhinoceros.

The reserve is extremely successful, with breeding and births from many species being seen.

Free the Bears is just one of the conservation projects that Action for The Wild supports, with many different animals such as red pandas, orangutans, elephants and rhinos all benefiting from its donations.

Why sun bears are endangered 

Deforestation has meant that a large amount of sun bear territory has been lost.


There is no scientific evidence that support this claim but sun bears are still targeted for their bile.

Bears are hunted in the wild for their gall bladders and either killed or kept in farms where they regularly have their bile extracted.

There is reportedly more that 10,000 sun bears in China who are in bile farms, they are kept in cages and their bile is cruelly taken from them, many get infections and diseases from this treatment.

Sun bears are also victims of pet trade.

Due to them being the smallest of bears they are used a tourist attraction in bars and clubs in Asia.

Young bears are often kept in cages for paying members of the public to come and see.

The real problem comes when they are too big to be kept as pets, they are normally either sold to bile farms or killed.