This is the touching moment a gardener fights back tears as he hugs a bear cub he rescued and hand-reared as a pet for two years.<br /> <br />Gardener Patrarawuth Sompuen, 31, found the one-month-old injured Asian black bear abandoned by its mother in the jungle in Chonburi, Thailand, in November 2016.<br /> <br />He tenderly cared for the cub, which had been bitten hundreds of times by mosquitos and was suffering stomach problems. <br /> <br />Miraculously – and without any assistance from vets – Patrarawuth nursed the bear back to health, naming him Kuay-cheng, and hand-reared him for the next two years.<br /> <br />Patrarawuth reached out for help last month after finding that his home had become too small for his beloved companion. <br /> <br />Staff from Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation arrived on January 29 to relocate the bear to a wildlife sanctuary, where he'll be ''un-domesticated'' and later released back into the wild once his natural instincts return.<br /> <br />Footage shows the remarkable bond between Patrarawuthand and the bear. <br /> <br />Patrarawuth said: ''I will follow his progress at the sanctuary. Wherever he goes, I am sure he will always remember me.<br /> <br />''We have been best friends for two years. He always followed me to work and was known by all my colleagues. <br /> <br />''It breaks my heart to see him leave but I know this is best for both of us.''
