• The moon bear is also known as the Himalayan black bear, Tibetan black bear, collared bear, Formosan black bear and horse bear.

• Every moon bear's chest markings are different in colour and shape, ranging from pale yellow to deep orange-gold, from deep Vs to delicate crescents. Some are even speckled!

• Moon bears love water and like nothing more than swimming and splashing around!

• Moon bears, along with Malayan sun bears, are the only bears known to construct feeding platforms in trees.

• It's no myth – bears really do love honey and are believed to be able to smell it from up to 5 kilometres away!

• Moon bears are believed by scientist Daniel Taylor-Ide to be the original yeti!

Personality

At the risk of inviting criticism for being anthropomorphic (i.e. believing that animals share human qualities and emotions), the Animals Asia team unashamedly states that bears do indeed have emotions similar to ours.

Twenty years of cage confinement see the farmed bears arriving at our sanctury violently angry. They are frustrated, frightened, miserable and confused. Even under these circumstances, they often show a cautious trust in response to kind treatment and tempting food. Slowly, their individual "personalities" emerge and they become mischievous, fun-loving and happy. They are resourceful and determined in play and foraging, comfortable and lazy in their beds (and reluctant to leave them!), they are as predictable and unpredictable as any human being and our lives have been enriched and educated by being part of theirs.