Many of you also asked after our latest batch of bears, so let me give you an update. Of the 28 bears we received at the end of March in China, over half have died - nine of them from liver cancer.
As we bury each bear with love and respect – the only love they have ever known – we console ourselves with the knowledge that in the end, these bears had felt a bond with members of a species who tried so hard to help, rather than hurt, them and who will never stop fighting to end the industry that snuffed out their lives.
The new bears still recovering are not out of the woods by a long chalk, but responding well to surgery, medication and the five-star care of all in our team.
One quite novel introduction into their lives has been the sounds of music. Nic, our Senior Bear Manager recently updated me on the mood of the month as we walked around the quarantine area together. A favourite CD just now is Mozart’s “Concertos for Clarinet, Oboe and Bassoon”. We smiled as Rhonda lay back and breathed in the classical music, with the only thing missing a glass of iced lemonade and a sun hat.
A slightly different mood followed - with The Beatles playing “A Yellow Submarine” and perhaps more pertinently, “The Long and Winding Road” which filled the room with a glorious resonance of calm and good vibes. As the weeks go on, we hear exceptionally positive feedback from Bear Team Leader Xiao Chen and her team - that the bears clearly enjoy the melodic addition to their daily life and routine.
Haribo (previously nicknamed “Poodley”) has beaten all the odds, recovering from a particularly tricky surgery, and just looks - and obviously feels - glorious. The attention-seeking raspberry sounds he made when he first came in are back, heralding a bear in robustly good health. We’re now looking forward to integrating Haribo with his new-found friends in adjacent recovery cages. Bear Manager Donata snapped him yesterday looking as endearing as ever:
One of those friends is George (Chinese nickname “Xiao Howard” after our wonderful Bear Team Supervisor) who is learning some table manners at last before he's released into the great outdoors. Previously, he'd been particularly choosy about food, leaving his zoo pellet diet, but making sure that every last shred of cabbage was sucked from his bowl.
As we told him, any bear that is this choosy is going to be against some serious competition from more "normal" members of this food-motivated and particularly greedy species! That seemed to do the trick and the last bear report simply read "George loves his food, hoovering it up within 5 minutes!" Now that's more like it George.
Egmont (formerly nicknamed “Eyeore”) has bloomed into a healthy, glossy mammoth of a bear. A chunky monkey, she is divine and responding well to major overdoses of good food and tender, loving care.
Gorgeous Wilfred (who we nicknamed “Watermelon” when he arrived) - loves everything about his life. Time and time again, we emphasise that we don't have favourites, but there is something so special about this bear who has wriggled his way into everyone's hearts. Just look at this gentle face (again, snapped by Donata):
Despite his past life, despite the chips being down 24 hours of every day on the farm and despite the fact that he is blind, Wilfred has blossomed into a bear who epitomises the forgiving nature of this remarkable species.
Nothing phases or upsets him, and he wakes to each new day with the calm and interested demeanour of a bear that knows he is protected, respected and very much loved.
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Terrible news I’m afraid. Two more of the 28 bears that came to us at the end of March have lost their battle to survive. First Irwin, then Yin Yang, both in the past two weeks. It’s heartbreaking to think these beautiful, brave bears came so close to living the life they were born to live and yet were too weak to ever know the joy of running on the grass.
My heart especially goes out to our Senior Vet, Heather, and the rest of the vet team who tried so hard to save them and also to the bear workers who have nourished them, played with them and showed them such kindness over the past few months.
Irwin will always have a special place in our hearts. He was nicknamed “Hagrid” from the beginning in celebration of the fact that among the dying, skeletal animals we received on the 31st March, here was a large and hairy bear at last! His huge body was crammed into an impossibly small cage.
Irwin had a nasal discharge, which we hoped was a sinus infection that could be treated with antibiotics. Sadly this was not the case. Irwin had a malignant, invasive tumour sitting high inside his nose and spreading, through the bone, towards his brain.
This type of tumour is inoperable and painful, so Irwin was euthanised before his condition could worsen. Irwin’s tumour was confirmed by biopsy after he underwent a CT scan, kindly provided by a local hospital.
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Poor Yin Yang too was euthanised after the vet team discovered that her gall bladder had broken away from the fistula created by the farmer, and had stuck to her liver, creating chronic infection, which her body had attempted to contain in abscesses. In Heather’s words:
Unfortunately, the removal of Yin Yang's gall bladder revealed the dirty cotton sutures used in her original crude farm surgery and now stuck to her liver, and exposed the abscesses contained in the mass of inflammatory tissue around her gall bladder. Every effort was made to remove the infected and inflamed tissue and antibiotics were applied, but unfortunately the infection grew stronger spreading from her liver throughout her abdomen and despite extensive nursing and additional surgery, she continued to deteriorate.
Sadly we decided to put Yin Yang to sleep and end her brave struggle, another victim of the dirty and appalling bile farm conditions. Sleep well little bear.
Fifteen of the 28 bears rescued on the last day of March are no longer with us, but we will never forget them – or stop fighting for their cause. Toby (general manager of the rescue centre) and I are now trying to arrange a meeting with Madam Xiong Beirong, the head of the Wildlife Conservation Division of the Sichuan Forestry Department, who visited the sanctuary shortly after the latest rescue. Madam Xiong was visibly moved by the appalling state of the bears, so we will continue to urge her to push for an end to this industry.
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One of our staunchest US supporters, Dr Eric H Busch of New Orleans, has put together a brilliant power point presentation, "Bear Bile .... fact and science". If you'd like to learn more about bear bile and why it is totally unnecessary, please see his Powerpoint presentation here or listen to the presentation here.
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Street cats in Guangzhou (the cat-eating capital of China) have a second chance thanks to an amazing group working there on the ground (helped by much-needed funds from Animals Asia).
Previously, as the population of strays began to grow, residents were complaining about the noise and the smell, and many took the matter into their own hands by killing the cats.
Enter Xixi Cat volunteers who literally scooped these animals off the streets, and took them to local vet, Dr John Wu, for a quick de-sexing surgery, before releasing them back into the community. So far, 28 neutered cats have been put back on the streets and a recent survey now shows a staggering 96% support for the trap, neuter, release programme from the local residents! Please click here to read more about this fabulous work - showing how cats and the community can live in harmony!
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So proud to let you know that our UK team achieved the impossible this weekend. I don't who had the original idea but before we knew it, our UK Director Dave and his team were telling us that they were going to rise to the challenge of walking the three peaks of the UK - Ben Nevis, Scarfell and Snowdon - and all in 24 hours! Calling them on Saturday evening China time just before they set off, it was clear they were wondering what on earth they were doing. An excited Dave said they were as ready as they could be, although did I detect slightly nervous laughter in the background as I wished them all the best of British luck!
But they did us proud - as we knew they would. Dave, Lara, Gill, Mark and James did the walking, with Fiona and Nicky providing the all-important back up and supplies.
Leaving you with Dave's text received at 2am this morning - which said: "Dear Jill, please let Jasper and Eddie know that we did it. Three mountains in three different countries in a total of 23.5 hours. At least 4k on its way to the fluffies. Yippee!"
Brilliant job our UK family from staff and supporters across the globe - no doubt you'll be sleeping for the next 23.5 hours - peacefully I hope; knowing that you've raised profile and much needed funds for Jasper and the bears, Eddie and the dogs and cats, and all the animals who depend on truly remarkable feats like this.
To read the full story, please click here.
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