With the theme, “Have fun with the moon bears”, we were joined by students, teachers, academics, and animal welfarists from nine cities across the country – caring people who are determined to make a difference, spread the word and join the call for ending bear farming and the consumption of dogs and cats in Asia.
Ms Li Jie has recently retired as an official from the Lanzhou Forestry Department, where she had been helping to educate the local community about the plight of bears and companion animals.
Since October 2008, she has organised 16 major activities, including presentations outside the bear enclosure at Lanzhou Zoo, in Gansu Province and primary school presentations where university students teach younger children the importance of respecting dogs and cats, rather than seeing them as food for the table.
It was wonderful to have her now representing “Lanzhou Green Volunteer Home” – and to proudly welcome her on site to finally see the bears she has so tirelessly helped.
Mr Zhang Lihui has been similarly active in welfare education. Mr Zhang is a teacher at Fushan Beitai Primary School, which is in Fushun city, Liaoning Province – one of the four major bear-farming provinces.
He is working hard to promote awareness of the suffering of farmed moon bears and our rescue project. Mr Zhang organises more than 200 students to take part in roadshows and donation drives, and to distribute their own beautifully hand-crafted leaflets to the community.
Kind Mr Zhangyao has been helping Animals Asia since 2004, and was one of the main organisers of the “I Love Moon Bears" ceremony at Datiankan School in Chengdu, which saw the passionate, creative, involvement of over 2,000 students. He also helped to organise our Professor Paws ambassadors to visit a damaged school in the Sichuan earthquake area, cheering up children who had lost family and friends in the disaster.
We also had students from Chengdu Traditional Chinese Medicine University, Shanghai University and Southwest Science & Technology University during three days of presentations, where Rainbow, Sailing, Suki, Jacky and Irene organised events and lectures to fill the day with fun and learning.
Tears were shed as the group was invited into the surgery when we said a sad goodbye to Syntegra who was gently euthanised on the table after it was found that she had inoperable liver cancer. Li Jie couldn’t help herself – crying in sympathy for bears “still suffering in such horrible conditions on the farms”.
Smiles soon returned when our visitors were invited to clean and enrich the bear enclosures and to make novel toys for the grateful four-legged residents.
Presentations were interspersed between the practical work – with Rainbow talking about animal-welfare in general, Suki giving a “Friends....or Food?” presentation (which also saw several of our Chengdu Dr Dogs coming on site to say hello and Jacky lecturing on how to coordinate a successful education activity.
Discussions within the group also led to a new idea: “Love Moon Bear Week”, planned for April next year, to coincide with Earth Day. This will compel many people across the country to become involved in a day celebrating this endangered and charismatic species.
As Sailing proudly said at the end of the visit, “Summer camps are particularly important in helping to train organisers in different cities and schools across China. They can then carry out promotional work and encourage a shift in attitude among those they reach. This summer camp really impressed them a lot!”
Share this article with your friends            | Donate to bear rescue appeal |
Just recently, we received a message that an online forum in China had been inundated with hits after someone posted a piece about his family being absolutely horrified to hear that toothpaste containing bear bile was being advertised and sold.
Over 200,000 people had visited the site, leaving outraged comments decrying bear farming after learning that bile came from such diseased and dying victims. More and more pictures of caged and suffering bears (including many of our images) are being posted, with the storm of protest growing each day.
Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who is willing to speak out - loud and proud - against the bear farming industry, giving hope to over 7,000 bears lying in agony on the farms.
We say again to anyone reading this - bear bile is unnecessary and unconscionably cruel, and we all have the power of change in our hands to end the suffering of animals who have spent decades being caged and tortured. Please use the internet to make your voices heard. Make a difference today.
| Share this article with your friends | Donate to bear rescue appeal |
Our sanctuaries are always buzzing with activity, with the serious day-to-day management and care of the bears (dogs and cats) and often with important research being simultaneously carried out. This work can strengthen our arguments against the vile bile industries of China and Vietnam.
Sometimes, however, we take the opportunity, simply, to have fun! And fun was what it was all about recently when my sister Anne, her husband Steve, and their daughter Nicole came out to see us in Chengdu and meet the team.
With a sleeping Banjo on the surgery table for a dental, our vet team dug out a little scrub top and surgical gloves for 11-year-old Nicole to wear and invited her to help them with a health-check.
Carefully following instructions from vet nurse Hayley, Nicole injected Banjo with antibiotics and painkillers.
She also took his temperature – never once blinking an eye as she quickly realised that the thermometer wasn’t actually to be placed in his mouth!
High on the priority list was taking Banjo’s paw-prints with non-toxic paint – these prints help us raise much-needed funds during roadshows and other events.
Usually, lemon paint and black card are used (ie, the colours of the black bears and their yellow crescent moons), but Hayley remembered that Nicole loved pink, and so red and white paint was mixed together to make a lovely shade of baby pink!
Here's a lovely pic of Nicole and Anne and one of Nicole getting to know cheeky Jasper:
It was lucky that Banjo’s friends weren’t around to see his paw painted with such a girlie colour, but the final result was gorgeous. Health-check and paw painting complete, Banjo was duly woken up in his recovery cage to be spoiled rotten over the next couple of days after three broken canines were removed.
Just before moving his cage into the hospital ward, someone shouted, “Snake!” and we all jumped in surprise as a decent-sized snake slithered along the corridor floor.
Luckily Bear Team Supervisor Rocky was on hand to scoop it up and release it safely into the forest.
The night before all this excitement had been our party on site to celebrate Animals Asia’s 11th Anniversary on August 8th. Ever-creative, Rainbow took the opportunity of taking a pic with the whole team standing in the courtyard and forming the number “11”.
The fun and games continued Chengdu-style well into the evening, with some "Olympian" efforts from the team!
| Share this article with your friends | Donate to bear rescue appeal |
As you know, from the start of this month to the end of September, supporters around the world are holding Honey Money Days to help us raise money for the rescued bears.
I’ve just heard about one very special event that will long be remembered in the picturesque town of Burgdorf in Emmental, Switzerland.
Our lovely Swiss supporter, Andrea Kilcher (above) who visited our Chengdu sanctuary in 2007, recently married her handsome beau, Beat Friedli – and a close friend of Andrea surprised the bride and groom with a wonderful idea that made their special day even more special – by including the moon bears!
Andrea’s friend printed “dollar” notes with a picture of a bear on one side and a picture of Andrea and Beat on the other, and sold them off to their delighted wedding guests, who were more than happy to join in the fun. The notes were inscribed with the words: “We have a heart for bears” and the date of their wedding.
The lovely wedding guests raised a total of 700 Swiss francs, which was gratefully (and tearfully) accepted by Andrea to pass on to the bears who mean so much to her. This money will go towards our Honey Money Days project – building a new bear house in Chengdu.
Andrea and Beat, and all you lovely people who were guests at their wedding, thank you so much for this truly kind gesture – and all the very best for a long and happy life together from the whole team at Animals Asia (especially our bears in Chengdu!)
PS: If you’d like to hold your own event to help us build a new house for our China bears, it’s not too late! If you haven’t yet organised your own Honey Money Day fundraiser, please take a look here www.animalsasia.org/honeymoneydays or contact you local Animals Asia office if you’d like more information.
| Share this article with your friends | Donate to bear rescue appeal |
Despite their terrible pasts, our rescued bears are generally just so good at leaving the bad times behind. One of the things I love about them is, simply, that they make you smile.
David and Lamma are a case in point – two gorgeous little sun bears belonging to what is often known as a feisty species – and quite challenging to manage. But no, these two bears are trouble-free.
When I was with them recently, I beamed from ear to ear, as they embraced everything about their new lives, tumbling around and exhausting each other with play. Belinda our Senior Bear Manager also captured a gorgeous moment they had a few days before and no words are necessary as she had been lucky enough to have her camera with her at the time.
So, just for you, here’s David (left) and Lamma enjoying one of those perfect moments of bliss:
| Share this article with your friends | Donate to bear rescue appeal |
Next Previous
Calendar