(CN) China Bear Rescue

May 4, 2001

Dear Friends of Animals Asia,

A thousand miles starts with one step and, just a few days ago, that first

step was made when we cut the last of our first group of rescued bears out

of the rusty wire cage which had held her prisoner for years. Bear number

63 is a beautiful, small female and a victim of the new, so-called humane,

" free dripping " method, which uses no catheter but causes terrible infection

and even death for some bears we have seen.

Although we will have to wait for the results of her blood tests, she

seems to be in reasonably good shape and slept peacefully through a full

health check before waking in a roomy transport cage and looking up at the

sky and trees for the first time in her life.

As this sweet little girl has yet to be sponsored and named, we couldn't let

this landmark stage go by without giving her an identity for now. The

answer was found on her cage, lettered " P " , and we warmly welcomed " Pooh "

into the Animals Asia family and her new life of freedom.

Whilst Pooh's release signals positive progress in the first stage of the

China Bear Rescue, we never forget the bears she left behind or the fact

that we could never have come this far without the help of caring people

like you. Negotiations for the purchase of land to build the permanent

sanctuary press ahead, so that we can move into stage two of the rescue and

begin to receive the 440 bears awaiting their freedom.

For young bear lovers, check out our exciting new " Kid's Site " on the

website with facts about bears, the tragedy of bear farming, and the story

of the China Bear Rescue, together with quizzes and games. We are very

grateful to Viviance New Education for having so very kindly sponsored this

wonderful addition to our web site:

Bear hugs from Pooh and her friends and everyone in the team,

Jill

Find out more about the historic China Bear Rescue by visiting the Animals

Asia Foundation website at:

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