http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/rss/RSS_img-01.jpg http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php Copyright 2008, No Author No Author en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080504-095320
We’ll all miss her – she had a temper on her that would make bears and people jump in surprise – opinionated, stubborn, but with a gentle and affectionate side too.

One of the elderly matriarchs of the enclosure, this larger than life bear, who the rescue centre staff nicknamed “Gail”, made us smile for reasons we’re not really sure of.




Papermoon passed away late on Wednesday night after a battle well fought. I’m in Spain now and it was the saddest of calls to hear Heather at midnight (her time in China) saying there was nothing more that she and the team could do. These amazing girls had, once again, sat with a bear through several nights checking her, reassuring her, doing everything they could.

Papermoon, sponsored by a lovely lady in Germany, was such a fighter. She was one of the first group of three bears we received on a cold night of October 2000 – in a crush cage just behind Andrew and Melody. Beside herself with rage and fear, she convulsed almost incessantly from the time she arrived.

Her body was such a mess. Badly arthritic, teeth and paw tips hacked away, a horrible latex catheter that protruded from her abdomen and then snaked under her skin and exited at the hip – with all the underlying infection you’d expect. As if that wasn’t enough she had a huge dinner-plate-sized burn on her back – festering, weeping and obviously terribly painful.

Although the surgery went well, Papermoon’s temper and convulsing didn’t improve in all the time she was in the recovery cage. It was only when she was put into a den – with Heather, Crystal and Joy that she started behaving like a bear.

Since then, these four “girls” remained together – clustered around in a tight little group, “gossiping” for hours on end and earning the most appropriate name of “the knitting circle”. Woe betide any silly young male who sauntered too close – they were taking no nonsense and would all open wide mouths of warning, which would see the boldest male scuttling back into the safety of his own den.

The group lost Joy from liver cancer in 2004 and will be all the quieter now for the loss of “Gail”.
]]> http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080504-095320 No Author Sun, 04 May 2008 16:53:20 GMT http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080503-004549
We are waiting to make sure they're all on the road to recovery before we start naming them with the official names chosen by sponsors on the waiting list. Meanwhile, we've given them all nicknames.

Here are Heather's notes:

"Rasta" has recovered well from coughing/diarrhoea, has very sore eyes and awful teeth so was anaesthetised on Tuesday for a dental. We extracted all four of her canine teeth and one molar tooth. All were rotten and she had extensive infection in her jaw bones. She also had ulcers on both of her corneas, which were treated. She is currently on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.

"Suki" has recovered well, but is a little constipated this week as she’s developed a fondness for dog-food sachets while she was sick. We’re gradually weaning her back onto bear food. She over-grooms her hair (a learned behaviour due to boredom on the farm) and has extensive hair-loss, but the hair is slowly growing back as she plays with her enrichment [toys] more.

"Sarah" has no more coughing or diarrhoea, and looks really well

"Eeyore" is refusing to eat her vegetables, but eats everything else and is very bright and well and active. She looks good, no coughing or diarrhoea.

"Flipper" has no problems; he has recovered well.
]]> http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080503-004549 No Author Sat, 03 May 2008 07:45:49 GMT http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080502-064409
Christie, our China Relations Director, came with me and was able to speak first-hand of the challenges faced by animals and people in her country. She was delighted to meet our supporters face to face and I think they were even more delighted to meet her after hearing about the programmes initiated by her team for making the world a better place for dogs and cats in China.

Heart-warming welcomes came from audiences everywhere. In Cologne, we were privileged to meet Heinz Wiescher from ETN – a group that has been so incredibly generous over the years and has sponsored a whole bear house for our sanctuary in Chengdu. Most of the bears in House 6 are disabled – missing paws, teeth, claws and eyes – but you would never know it watching this group of little delinquents loving (and destroying) their carefully constructed play platforms in the enclosure.

It was wonderful to meet our friend Christiane von Schwind – a TV producer on WDR who many years ago sparked interest for our bears in Germany with her touching stories and gained us many new and loyal supporters. I believe that the story will be shown in the next few weeks on Tiere suchen ein Zuhause – so if you’re able to pick up German TV, please keep your eyes peeled for that!

On to Hildesheim, where our long-term and passionate supporter, Danielle Sofie, jumped out of a light aircraft – in a bear suit. She has done this many times in the past, but watching her fall many metres from the sky certainly saw hearts in mouths and a collective sigh of relief from the audience as she landed safely on solid ground.




Heinz Habenicht and Manfred Herzog gave her a helping hand and proved once more that supporters of AAF are great at teamwork whenever it’s needed!

Next it was on to Salzburg – and what an event that was. The location was Gut Aiderbichl – the most magnificent rescue centre for all sorts of domesticated animals rescued from farms and slaughterhouses in Austria. It was truly a place of peace and tranquillity with horses, pigs, sheep, cows, chickens and goats – plus a few unruly dogs and cats – all living together harmoniously. The founder of this peaceful haven is Michael Aufhausser (below), who is famous across Europe for not only rescuing so many individual animals, but causing every visitor to reflect on how our smallest steps can change a world of cruelty for farm animals today.




Lots of animal lovers had come to Aiderbichl, most of them Austrians, to learn more about the plight of the moon bears and at the end of my presentation another surprise was waiting – the Committee of Gut Aiderbichl devoted a special prize for animal welfare each year and this year it was my great honour receive it – naturally on behalf of Jasper and our other four-legged friends many thousands of miles away!

During that day and a half, we were pleased to see presenter Maggie Entenfeller and her film crew from Austrian TV ORF on site and once again devoting so much filming time to our Asian animal projects in a programme that will go out in Germany later in May.

Another surprise was to meet some of our lovely Luxembourg supporters at Gut Aiderbichl – including Anita and René Claus, who helped us out with some amazing pictures (René is standing with me below).




The next day we were hot-footing it to the Chinese Embassy in Berlin, where we met with Chinese Ambassador Ma Carong and his staff. The meeting had been organised by long-time supporter and friend Frau Alexandra Oetker, who sponsors no less than three bears in Chengdu. Frau Oetker arrived for coffee that morning with her two gorgeous rescued dogs in tow – a lovely start to the day having a little animal therapy before we all rushed off to the Embassy.

Mr Ma Carong was attentive and thoughtful at our meeting, during which we passed over just a few of the 55,000 petitions signed by people in Germany respectfully asking that China accelerate the rescue of farmed bears and close the industry down.

Christie and I also handed over the horrific new pictures of bears just received – including the 11 that had died from liver cancer – and were pleased to hear Mr Ma promising to forward our evidence and concerns to high-level departments in Beijing.

Finally we hopped on a plane for our last event in Munich and our meeting with the marvellous Barbara Rütting – a Green MP, actress and author of 18 vegetarian books. I hope she won’t mind me mentioning that she is 80 years old – a walking advert for a healthy diet and beautiful of face and heart. (Barbara is the lady in pink above and below.)




Barbara has helped us so much in political platforms for the bears and it was lovely for us all to just sit down at the end of the event, share some pasta with this passionate, articulate woman, and just relax.

Also at the dinner we were delighted to meet with Sandra and Roland Schwarzl. Roland is an Austrian athlete who is taking part in the Beijing Olympic Games this coming August – complete with Animals Asia T-shirt!

The Munich event itself – with such wonderful supporters, more tears for the bears and smiles of hope as projects were outlined to help them – rounded off a perfect roadshow.

All of the events over the past week were filled with friends who have been so dedicated over the years – and we need to thank you all – each and every one of you, for the faith and help you so selflessly offer to bears, dogs and cats so many thousands of miles away in the midst of your own busy lives. Thank you from us all – we had the best of times and can’t wait to return again.

]]> http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080502-064409 No Author Fri, 02 May 2008 13:44:09 GMT http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080428-061454
It’s been hard on us all and the tragedy of the spring 2008 rescue will haunt us for years to come – but we still have 17 survivors and they represent the future.

I chose these three photos to show you, as I think they sum up how we’re all feeling right now. The first of Toby our General Manager (on the left) and Rainbow, our PR and Education Manager, just before the funeral of three of the bears we lost.




Seeing their bodies lying on grass, it was even more poignant that these bears had never been able to experience this simple pleasure when alive. Toby and Rainbow’s faces say it all.

The next two are of Chen, one of our lovely, patient bear workers, whose kindness is gradually winning over the new arrivals.




Here, she is pictured preparing food and feeding Watermelon, our bear of hope. As I’ve mentioned before, we fear this beautiful boy may have been robbed of his natural intelligence by the brutal treatment he received on the farm.




But Chen and the other hands-on Chinese staff will be by his side day in and day out for as long as it takes for this big, gentle bear to recover enough to be released into a semi-natural enclosure.

Brave Watermelon and the 16 other survivors couldn’t be in better hands. From now on, they will know only kindness. Here’s what Chen said when asked how she felt about the new arrivals:

“I was very sad on the day these new bears arrived. They were kept in such tiny cages. I am happy to see them moved to bigger cages after their health-checks. It takes about 10 days before we see their friendly eyes. It’s so pleasant to see they become so playful when we put in the branches and all the different toys. What a reward to see these changes. I hope all the farmed bears can recover very soon.”
]]> http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080428-061454 No Author Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:14:54 GMT http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080423-070000
I wish these poor bears could run free on the grass as soon as they arrive at the rescue centre, but sadly, the reality is that they are simply too sick, even the ones that are not on our “worry list”.

These bears have been kept in tiny, coffin-sized cages, some of them for many years. They have been used as machines, unable to walk or even to turn around and starved of nutrition and even water.

Most are severely traumatised, just lying flat on the bottom of their cages with atrophied muscles and dehydrated bodies. Many of them also have arthritis and a number of other ailments and they need constant monitoring from the vet team.

Watermelon (pictured here) for instance, still has a long way to go before he can enjoy his freedom fully - but we'll make sure he's as happy and comfortable as possible until he's fit enough to venture out into the world. Incidentally, the blue tube in his recovery cage is filled with food, most recently "stinky tofu", which the bears love! It takes them ages to lick and paw the goodies out of the tube, keeping their minds active and their bodies exercised.




The rehabilitation process is necessarily a slow one. These bears need time to adjust to space around them, to learn to stand, walk and build “nests” with straw and green browse – and to learn to trust our caring staff and new people around them, so far removed from their lives on the farms. For our part, we also need to understand them, to monitor their diets, to make sure they are eating enough and to understand their problems and preferences too.

Once the emergency health-checks are finished, the vet team will surgically remove each of the bears’ gall bladders, which are horribly damaged from the bile extraction process, repair or remove broken and shattered teeth from years of bar-biting or deliberate cutting-back by the farmers. Their eyes are checked, claws are clipped, their ears are tagged for identification, blood taken for analysis, and bodies checked again for signs of further wounds and scarring possibly missed in the original health-checks. After this surgery, the vet team will monitor the bears again in their recovery cages as their surgical wounds dry and heal.

The time spent in recovery cages varies according the scale of the injuries and complications and availability of new dens. Even then, moving them into a rehab area does not always go smoothly! In their natural state, moon bears are solitary animals, so they don’t always take kindly to the presence of other bears. Like humans, they get along fine with some of their fellow residents and not others.

It’s a process of trial and error, but eventually we will place all of the bears in a semi-natural enclosure where they will be happy and able to spend their days swimming, enjoying their swings, play-wrestling and climbing to their hearts’ content.
]]> http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080423-070000 No Author Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:00:00 GMT http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080422-092001
But with all the tragic news of the past few weeks, I thought I’d hand over to AAF’s lovely Jude in Adelaide, Australia to share with you an uplifting story from Down Under:

“We all waited, then rejoiced in the good news – more bears had arrived at the China rescue centre! Sadly, as the rescue team took charge of their patients, each day bought shocking reports of the unbelievable condition of the bears and the vet team’s heartbreaking decisions to euthanise some of these precious animals.

We thought some positive messages from supporters in Australia and New Zealand, thanking them for the wonderful work they were doing under such terrible conditions, might lift the team’s spirits and show that we were thinking of them.

As soon as we suggested this to our supporters, a flood of emails began pouring in – and they are still coming today! To date, more than 900 antipodeans have written messages of support and thanks to our wonderful vet team and bear carers in Chengdu.

We printed these out on (recycled) coloured paper, then sent them off to China where the rescue centre staff plastered them over the walls of the canteen and hung them from string as bunting for all to read. A lot of the messages were translated into Chinese.

So to all of you supporters who took the time to write, please know that your words were truly appreciated, bringing tears, smiles and moments of quiet reflection and strength to these brave people at “the front”. Some of the Chengdu staff have told me that they had no idea of the amazing support they had from so far away.

Thanks so much to all of you who cared enough to send in messages. They were an absolute hit with the whole team!”




Also, thanks so much from me (Jill) for all the warm and encouraging messages sent in by blog readers over the past couple of weeks. I’m sorry I can’t reply to you all individually, but I want you to know that your compassionate words and understanding have really meant a lot to us all over these past few sad weeks.
]]> http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080422-092001 No Author Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:20:01 GMT http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080420-072338
And speaking of loyal supporters, England’s Bob and Laura Croker completed the London Marathon on April 13 and they ran the gruelling race to raise money for AAF. To date, this fabulous couple has raised an amazing £4,393, well surpassing their goal of £3,000!

They said in an email after the race, “We are pleased to say that we completed the course on Sunday with thoughts of the bears on our minds, which certainly provided massive motivation to us. We are absolutely gob-smacked by everyone’s generosity. Humans don’t often surprise us in a good way, but this time we have been astounded at the kindness that everyone has shown…. Between us all, let’s keep spreading the word about the plight of these poor beautiful bears, dogs and cats.”




If you would like to support this wonderful couple’s efforts, their website, www.justgiving.com/bobandlaura2008, will be operating for another 55 days, so it’s not too late to donate. It’s worth visiting their website just to read all the heart-warming messages of support from all the lovely people who sponsored the run.

Thanks so much Bob and Laura – what an incredible effort!
]]> http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080420-072338 No Author Sun, 20 Apr 2008 14:23:38 GMT http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080417-143646
While bears like Poodley, Watermelon and even angry Plug are “stable”, others are not – and Heather and the rest of our vet team are seriously worried about five in particular – Sarah, Rasta, Suki, Eeyore and Flipper. These five have been sectioned off in the third quarantine poly-tunnel as a precaution in case of any viral implications that could be transmitted to the other bears.

Like Plug, we are angry too. We believe that the farmer of the facility closed has deceived us – and has swapped any healthy bears he had for those that were sick and dying on surrounding farms. How clever he is.

But while he’s counting his money, he should know that we don’t regret paying for these poor animals, broken and destroyed by his cruelty; at least we had the chance to end their miserable, agonising lives. These bears’ stories are being heard throughout the world via a shocked media that is bringing shame to this greed-driven industry. And this time, the farmer may have been just a little too clever for his own good, because government officials are shocked too.

The 11 livers we have removed, at three times their normal size, with putrid, decaying flesh and hardly an inch of what could be termed “healthy tissue”, are adding to the evidence we are building with doctors here in China. What person in their right mind would take bile from an animal so badly diseased – and now we are closer than ever to showing that there could indeed be a serious impact on human health.

Now it is up to us to rebuild the broken bears we have left – their bodies, their spirits, piece by piece.
]]> http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080417-143646 No Author Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:36:46 GMT http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080416-070517
It is heart-warming to see the characters they really have, deep inside, slowly, painstakingly coming to the fore - and to know that these will one day, hopefully soon, be the new and mischievous “Jaspers”, “Banjos” and “Woodleys” we’ve so come to love and admire.

“Poodley” - so named because he could be a clone for our own “Woodley” with his cute squashed face, squat square body and desperation for food of any type, taste or variation is fast becoming a favourite. Oh dear, there’s that word again, when we’ve promised as a team we just won’t have favourites. Well sorry, I can’t help it - this little guy is as brave as they come.




With a hernia in his abdomen, painfully dried and cracked paws and a personality as big as China, Poodley makes attention-seeking “raspberry” sounds with his mouth as he “asks” for just one more gummy bear hiding in my pocket. Watching him playing with green leaves and branches with all the delight of a child, I feel that, rather than us rescuing him, Poodley and the other surviving bears have actually rescued us and lifted us all out of the saddest time of our lives.

Looking down towards the end of the corridor, I see Heather, our senior vet, gently trying to feed poor angry “Plug” with his fifth helping of fruit and honey shake today.




No longer swiping out continuously at this awful person he thinks is going to damage his body once more, he is at last beginning to recognise the love and devotion that Heather and our vet and bear teams are longing for him to accept. At one point I swear I saw his eyes close in bliss – just for a second or two - before opening them again with fear and suspicion blazing there once again.

As we walked over to see Watermelon waking up from his afternoon doze, we all agreed that there is something “not quite right” with this sweetheart of a bear, apart from the obvious mobility problems from when he first arrived.




Is he a little “Rupert”-like?.....does he have brain damage like our beautiful bear of little brain who arrived over seven years ago and now lives happily in the special care area of the sanctuary? Why does he move his head so strangely and not focus on us or the food right in front of his eyes? And why is he the only bear in the whole wide world that has refused the last gummy bear in my pocket?

A few seconds later as he gleefully sucks at another of Heather’s special shakes, we know that we just have to take each day at a time and pray.

Meanwhile, there’s a little squat bear at the other end of the corridor that won’t see the last gummy bear go to waste.
]]> http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080416-070517 No Author Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:05:17 GMT http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080415-233055
The head of the Wildife Protection Department under the Sichuan Forestry, Madam Xiong Beirong (pictured right), who had also visited earlier last week, joined Madam Yang (left). Both were shocked by what they saw and promised to take their concerns to a higher level.




It was Madam Xiong who helped us secure the release of these bears after lengthy negotiations; she also named one of the new arrivals “Qiang Sheng” (strong life) when he had his initial health check.

But on Friday, she had to turn away when we showed her photos of the terrible injuries suffered by the bears we had euthanised. We are convinced that as individuals, these two women genuinely want to see the end of this brutal trade. We just hope someone listens to their pleas.

]]> http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080415-233055 No Author Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:30:55 GMT