Downton Abbey actor tells Hampstead schoolchildren about plight of moon bears

An actor who has starred in hit TV series Downton Abbey dropped in to a Hampstead junior school last week to talk to pupils about the plight of an endangered species of bear.

Hampstead resident Peter Egan spoke to children at University College School’s (UCS) junior branch in Holly Hill about the work of charity Animals Asia, of which he is an ambassador.

The charity is currently working to stop the suffering of Asian black bears, sometimes known as moon bears, which are often kept in small, crushed cages in “bear farms” across Asia.

History teacher Tobiah Thomas performed a song she had written about the tortured bears to pupils at an assembly.

She said: “The boys were eating out of Peter’s hands and were completely locked on to what he was saying. He was brilliant.

“He told them a little bit about what happens to the bears, enough for them to find it in their hearts to want to help the bears.”