Following the signing of our unprecedented agreement with the Chinese authorities in July 2000 to free 500 farmed Moon Bears, Animals Asia immediately set about the hard work of preparing for the actual arrival of the bears.

Through these pages we post regular updates on the progress of the rescue, so please be sure to sign up for email updates so that we can alert you whenever there are new developments.

Here, in Jill's own words, is the story of how the China Bear Rescue began:

"Sometimes we receive a message in life which is hard to ignore. For me, that message came in 1993 when I walked onto a bear farm in China for the very first time. Nothing prepared me for that moment and it was with utter disbelief that I witnessed a scene which would subsequently change my life and which would start the dream of the China Bear Rescue.

Bear farming was virtually unknown in the West and it was only when I heard rumours of a bear farm operation across the border in southern China, that I joined a tour group from Hong Kong to witness the practice at first hand.

While the bear farmer and his wife proudly demonstrated their bile preparations, I stole away from the group and found some stairs leading to a room below. As my eyes became accustomed to the darkness, it was as if a horror story was unfolding itself frame by frame. Row after row of tiny wire cages held living, breathing bears as prisoners - bears, I was later to discover, which had spent 13 years of their life behind bars. Resembling victims of medieval torture, these pitiful animals turned around to reveal infected, gaping wounds in their stomachs, from which protruded rusting, metal catheters.

At one point I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder and turned around to see a female moon bear reaching out through the cage. Without thinking, I took her paw and, whilst gazing into sad, dark, unblinking eyes, made a pledge that one day I'd be back to set her free.

From that moment, negotiations with the Chinese government began and I found myself in the middle of a complex, emotional issue which, not only concerned the welfare of the bears but, surprisingly that of the people who raised them. As meetings with officials and practitioners and consumers of Traditional Medicine took place, a greater understanding was evolving on both sides, with growing recognition that, although bear bile had held a significant place in Chinese medicine, there was no doubt that it could now easily, and cheaply, be replaced with herbs.

For many of the bears, this conclusion came too late, but for those who are finally seeing their freedom, the original pledge made in 1993 has now become a reality.

Please join us as the China Bear Rescue unfolds and rejoice with us that animals who were destined to die, caged and alone, are at last living a life close to that for which they were born."