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Arrival and quarantine
On arrival from the farms, the bears – still confined in tiny wire cages – are quickly, but gently, offloaded from the trucks and moved straight into the Quarantine Area. Here they are immediately offered water, tasty and nutritious food and, depending on their wounds and injuries, are medicated and prioritised for emergency health-checks.
Health-checks
The health-checks can happen almost immediately – or several weeks after the bears arrive, once they have been nourished and allowed to build up strength in preparation for the anaesthesia. The health-checks are normally conducted within the space of an hour and allow the veterinary team to make a full assessment of the bears' injuries and to prioritise the bears for what will be several hours of surgery to repair their wounds. During the health-check – where the veterinary team use ultrasound to check the bear's abdomen and assess the problems related to the various methods of bile extraction. Blood is taken, teeth are examined, ears are cleaned, claws are cut, and the bears are ear-tagged and finally sprayed to protect them against parasites.
The bears are then moved into roomy "recovery cages" and transported to the hospital to await surgery. |
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