Roxilla

Haribo with a lot to say and big cheesy grin

I have been following the story of the latest batch of rescued moon bears at Animals Asia since March, when 28 bears were rescued from bear farms in Chengdu and taken to the moon bear sanctuary run by Animals Asia.

From the start, I was immediately captivated by the amazing work that AFF have been doing, and the heartbreaking stories that unfolded about the awful, torturous lives that these bears had been living. They had been kept in crush cages the size of coffins for anything from 10 to 25 years, being ‘milked’ a few times a day for their bile, and being unable to stand, move or do anything.

Of the 28 bears that were rescued on March 28th, only 12 survived. 16 bears lost the battle, from cancer, injuries and sickness, and of the 12 that survived, one is blind, and most have scars on the inside and outside.

Nevertheless, each month of their recovery and slow integration into the sanctuary, as their wounds were treated and their trust grew, these bears managed to forgive and learn how to be bears again. Reading about their road to recovery has made me smile, and sometimes it’s made me cry a bit (because you know I’m a sucker for animal stories) but mostly it has just really made me think how amazing it is to have groups like AFF in the world, and what incredible animals these bears are.

At the end of last month, the 12 remaining moon bears were finally ready to go to their proper homes – and they were moved to their enclosures on November 28th. Reading the story about their move just made me fight back the tears, and the pictures of the bears discovering things like water troughs and bear swings and other enrichments – and enjoying the space that they had been denied for so long is just the most amazing thing.

Discovering the joy of water troughs

Checking out the cool hanging basket beds

Scoping out the new surroundings

Once the bears settle in to their enclosures, they will start being integrated and socialized with the rest of the moon bears at the sanctuary. Apparently, this is quite a careful and well-thought out task, as the bears are rather fussy and they also develop friends in their own way. So, to make life as good as possible, they are grouped by their own preference and communities. There’s also a ‘special’ section, where blind Watermelon will live, and where beautiful brain-damaged Rupert lives.

It’s quite an epic journey, and next year will see another batch of moon bears being rescued from farms across the area, and the cycle will start again.

You can learn more about AFF over here, and you can follow the moon bears at Jill’s Blog over here.