Mary Hutton (activist)

Mary Julia Hutton OAM (born 1939)[1] is the Australian founder of the Free the Bears Fund, and an animal activist.[2]

Activism

In 1993, Mary Hutton started a petition at her local shopping mall after witnessing on television the extraction of bile from an Asiatic black bear.[3] The bear was in a coffin-sized cage with its bile being removed via an abdominal catheter. Within months she had thousands of signatures and regular supporters. In 1995, Free the Bears Fund was officially formed.[4] The petition was presented to the Chinese Embassy in Canberra which evoked public and media interest. Mary Hutton continued to raise funds. During this time she was made aware of the dangers facing the sun bear. Mary was asked to help rescue and relocate some sun bears that had been taken from Phnom Penh restaurants. Her work with the bears spread to encompass multiple species including Asiatic black bears, sloth bears, and sun bears. The fund is active in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, India, Thailand, and Kalimantan.

Hutton has successfully relocated bears to National Parks[5] and zoos.

She co wrote an autobiographical book Free the bears, published by Pan Mcmillan in 2013 about her work[6]

Achievements

Hutton was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the January 2020 Australian Honours Perth Now newspaper Hutton has been a finalist for the Senior Australian of the Year Award five times. In 2017 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of the Sunshine Coast for her work in educating the public.[7] She was nominated for the 2019 Senior Australian of the Year award.[8]

References
  1. Keenan, Amanda (4 March 2016). "Yin & Yang: Mary Hutton and Alex Cearns". The West Australian. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  2. Miller, Julie (1 February 2010). "Win-win as grandma bears down to save dancing animals". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  3. Krausz, Tibor (20 December 2014). "The bear necessities for survival". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  4. Hawkes, H (11 April 2013). "Bears, from tears to cheers". The Northern Star. Lismore, N.S.W. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  5. Clara, Hildebrandt (31 July 2016). "Perth photographer snaps touching moment at Free the Bears Vietnam sanctuary". PerthNow. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  6. Hutton, Mary; Miller, Julie (2013). Free the bears. Sydney: Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9781742611969.
  7. Hoffman, Bill (9 April 2017). "How a determined grandmother saved 900 bears". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  8. Acott, Kent (24 October 2018). "Inspiring WA bunch up for top Aussie award". The West Australian. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
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