Mr Stephens contacted Perth woman Mary Hutton, who had begun a fledgling movement called Free The Bears in 1993.

“John rang me out of the blue one day,” Dr Hutton said. “He said ‘Would you be interested in helping me relocate three sun bears to Australia?’ I said what are sun bears? I knew nothing about them. It was a big learning lesson from day one.”

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Arrangements were made and in 1997 the three bears – Mr Hobbs, Victoria and Lucille – were unveiled to huge fanfare at Taronga. The worldwide headlines catapulted the tiny Free The Bears charity from obscurity into the big time, and within a week Dr Hutton was overwhelmed with mail.

“One day we had a knock on the front door from a police lady who said ‘What are you running here? There’s mail all over your front lawn!’” Dr Hutton said.

They counted $45,000 in just those first few days, enabling a rescue sanctuary to be built in Cambodia later in 1997.

When she heard Mr Hobbs would be euthanised on Friday, Dr Hutton said she was “absolutely devastated”.

“It was a very sad day for me. It was the end of a story that was the beginning of the fund.”

Taronga Zoo senior keeper Lesley Small cared for Mr Hobbs from the day he arrived and while she was shattered by his death, she was pleased he “touched a lot of people’s hearts”.

“It’s a very sad time, we’re saying goodbye to a sun bear we loved just like a family member,” he said.

Ms Small said when he arrived, “he wasn’t what he should’ve been”.

“He didn’t know some of the very simple challenges like climbing out of a gully or tree.”

But over the years he developed confidence and strength, endearing him to visitors and bonding him to his keepers.

“It can get a bit overwhelming thinking of him in the past tense ... [but] he will live on forever,” Dr Hutton said.

Dr Hutton estimates the money raised from the momentum generated by Mr Hobbs’ story has saved about 1000 bears.