Page 14 - Animals Asia Review 2017

End Bear Bile Farming

The four bears we promised not to forget

We discovered them ive years ago on another rescue ‘That day I made them a promise that we’d

mission. Now after years of delicate negotiations, Su Su,
be back. I’ve thought about these beautiful,
Dau Phu, Binh Minh and Jarai are inally home at our Vietnam
sanctuary. Their irst night was spent under November’s super ’gentle bears every day for ive years.

moon. Thank you to the moon and back for giving them a loving
home for life.
Tuan Bendixsen

Vietnam Director

Dau Phu was so traumatised when we came for him that it
When we put banana leaves in Su Su’s rescue cage she took took a lot of coaxing (and tasty fruit) to entice him into his
to nest-building like a pro. This was after a decade in a bile rescue cage. But soon he was learning to trust these humans

cage. The other bears watched Su Su and copied her.
who treated him so kindly and gave him such delicious food.

Jarai enjoys some juicy watermelon on her trip home. Her
teeth were badly damaged and painful after 10 years of biting Binh Minh was desperate to escape his old cage, which

the bars of her cage, desperate to get out. Now she’s getting had metal spikes jutting from the loor. In his rescue cage,
lots of TLC along with dental care.
on a bed of leaves, he lay down and slept.... and slept.

A big welcome home to these four Your donations funded three classes on
herbal alternatives to bear bile for over
brave bears too
100

Other lucky bears rescued in 2016 are moon bears Chau
students studying with
and Bao Lam (both female), and sun bears Kaffe (male) and the Vietnamese Traditional Medicine
Association. These are the country’s
Annemarie (female). These beautiful bears are all settling in well future practitioners.
at our Vietnam sanctuary and couldn’t be more loved.

‘Bears have bright minds and are

inquisitive and often playful by nature. It

means we’re kept on our toes ensuring A big thank you to Anne ockwell, Western Australia’s
Support Group coordinator for 10 years. “Sometimes I ask,
we introduce novelty to their lives, giving ‘Am I doing any good?’ but I feel I need to keep chipping

them the choice to explore, discover,and away.” And that’s exactly how it’s done Anne! Amazing
’people like you are helping to end bear bile farming – step
remain engaged in their environment.
by step. Anne has helped organise countless events over

the years and the WA Group has named two beautiful
heidi Quine
bears, Billabong (RIP) and Freo in Nanning.
Vietnam Bear and Vet Team Director

14 Animals Asia Review 2016