Healing the hidden wounds

10 May 2025

In her powerful new piece, our Senior Bear Team Manager Molly Feldman takes us deep into the emotional and behavioural world of bears rescued from bile farms and the long, complex journey of recovery that follows.

From learning to trust again, to managing stress and building resilience, Molly shares how Animals Asia’s sanctuary teams use patience, compassion, and science-based methods to help bears rediscover who they were always meant to be.

 

 For bears rescued from the cruelty of bile farms, healing isn’t immediate. It takes time, patience, and deep compassion to help them feel safe, trust again, and rediscover what it means to simply be a bear.

As Molly puts it:

“If you are focused on a goal of complete recovery, you are setting the bear up for failure... Rather than focusing solely on the end result, we try to ensure that over time the individual is headed in the right direction.”

Trauma leaves marks, but so does kindness. At Animals Asia, every small breakthrough matters and every bear deserves the chance to heal at their own pace.

Read Molly’s full article on trauma-informed bear care here.


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