Our volunteers are literally everything to the bears (and dogs and cats) at our sanctuaries in Chengdu and Vietnam. Over the years, we’ve had some absolutely fabulous help from passionate people who are willing to give up three months of their lives and step into the great unknown. They work for nothing except for meals and board, and of course lots of “food for the soul” from the resident animals we house.
A message sent to the team Sunday morning with the tragic news that Tiger had lost his fight for life....
On the eve of the Lunar New Year, we received the most beautiful message from Bear Manager Belinda in Vietnam... announcing the news that one of our new arrivals, Italia, had given birth to a little male cub. As Belinda explains:
Our Senior Education Officer in Chengdu, Jacky Yuan, sent such a lovely message to all the staff that I wanted to share it with you. (I know Jacky won’t mind):
Pinch me. Because surely I must be dreaming. This morning's event in the centre of downtown Chengdu will go down in the Animals Asia history as another turning point in our campaign to end bear farming in China.
The internet keeps us in touch with the world of the present and that of the past. Just recently, Mary Alice in the UK sent me the link to a website called Earth Protect, that brought back the memories of smiles and tears for the life of Andrew and so many bears we have loved and lost.
Their eyes shone, their mouths grinned and their cheeks glowed pink with shyness as they walked up on to the stage to collect their prizes. Chosen out of 15,000 children across China, these were the 22 talented prizewinners who had run with the theme "Saving the Moon Bears" and rose magnificently to the challenge.
A quick, but very heartfelt thank you, to all of you who've already signed up to send the bears a bunch of browse for Valentine's Day. They will absolutely love this bear version of a dozen red roses!
Just back from Vietnam where, as ever, I've been so overwhelmingly impressed with the sheer tenacity and professionalism of our entire team.
Our Chengdu sanctuary has seen an exciting new structural addition this week – our Special-Care Area for bears who require some extra help and care as they struggle with the physical legacy of their previous lives on the farm.
Jill founded Animals Asia in 1998, after an encounter with a caged bear on a farm in China changed her life forever. She now heads a team of over 300 enthusiastic staff and divides her time between our bear rescue centres in China and Vietnam and our Hong Kong head office. She travels extensively to participate in conferences and speak at fundraising events.
Read more here.
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