Animals Asia founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE shares her thoughts on Oliver, the bear who inspired a movement and sadly passed away last week at Animals Asia's Chengdu Bear Rescue Centre.

Don't get me wrong. Oliver wasn't perfect and had a decidedly difficult side. Swiping out angrily when our very patient team tried to spray him with topical medication for any wounds, or huffing rather grumpily when he was offered an "illegal" treat not quite to his taste.

But oh how we loved him - how everyone who set eyes on him loved him too. How rich we'd be if we had a penny for every time someone sobbed their heart out on the roof of his house. Helpless with grief, as they gazed down at him walking like a strange mechanical toy, and remembered those long 30 years he'd suffered in the prison of mankind's making. How many stories told of school or university days, of working lives, of marriages, of children and grandchildren being born, and growing up, as Oliver and his body grew old in the cage.

Read Jill's full blog post here.

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