Animals Asia Foundation’s new Moon Bear Rescue Ambassador for Vietnam, actress Maggie Q, has added her support to our Moon Bear Rescue programme by reaching out to a worldwide audience through a new community service announcement.

While planning an April visit to our Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Tam Dao National Park in Vietnam, Maggie went straight to work and, while still at home in California, recorded this very moving 30-second clip. In it she talks about the horrors of bile farming, the herbal and other alternative medicines that can replace the practice forever, and urges viewers to help end bear farming across Asia.

None of this could have come about without the generous help of a small group of people, who have given us their time, talent and energy to make it happen. We are very grateful to all involved, including the two talented Hong Kong media executives who donated their amazing creativity to the project. Charles Edwards of The Media Village and creative director Patrick Tom put their heads together to produce the script and The Media Village also provided editing and post-production services.

With the help of the wonderful people at the Hong Kong office of global media agency, Mindshare, Maggie’s impassioned plea is being broadcast throughout Asia by major channels, including National Geographic, CNN and Discovery Channel, which are providing free air time.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Charles and Patrick, to Mindshare for negotiating and arranging the air time for Maggie’s video, and to the broadcasters for providing us with such invaluable distribution channels at no charge.

Finally, out heartfelt thanks go to Maggie for lending us her voice for the bears. Jill Robinson (Animals Asia’s founder and CEO) says it best: “We are thrilled to have Maggie on board and just so grateful that she is taking the time to help the bears. We couldn’t have asked for a better ambassador to represent our cause in Vietnam.”

Read our press release for more details.