FWD for Animals Asia Foundation

[Guest guest]

Hi Everybody,

 

Herewith a media release on our latest rescue, 2 brown bears in a pit

outside a monastery on the Tibet border!

Their rescue bring the number of rescued bears in China to 187! In

just over 4 weeks we are expecting the arrival of another pitiful 20

farmed bears at the Rescue Centre. The work continues...

 

Best wishes,

Annie

 

 

PRESS RELEASE 19 August 2005

 

ANIMALS ASIA FOUNDATION RESCUES TWO MORE BEARS

 

Two lucky three year old brown bears are now starting a new life at a

specially created Rescue Centre and Sanctuary for farmed, sick and

disabled bears in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, following the most

recent " China Bear Rescue " by the Animals Asia Foundation and their

partners the Sichuan Forestry Department.

 

The bears were originally discovered in a pit in a monastery in

Litang, Loaning Province by two Chengdu University students who had

been holidaying in the area. The bears were being looked after by a

group of caring Tibetan monks who had apparently taken them in after

hearing that they were destined for a bear farm in the surrounding

area. However, after allowing the bears to roam freely in the garden

area of the Monastery for three years, the monks became increasingly

worried by the bears rapid growth and unpredictable characters and

were finally forced to house them in a small, square pit for the

protection of the resident monks and visitors alike. Although the

monks were treating them kindly, the two bears needs of nourishing

food and daily management presented a growing challenge and they had

begun to grow thin and stereotypic in their small and barren

enclosure.

 

The two students, noticing the bears' unnatural behaviour, contacted

Animals Asia's Moon Bear Rescue Centre on their return to Chengdu.

Luckily for the bears, the monks were also concerned that the bears

were now in need of professional care, and were more than happy to

pass them over to Animals Asia for integration with other bears at

the Chengdu Rescue Centre.

 

With the help of the Sichuan and Litang Forestry Departments who

arranged the necessary licenses and paperwork, the bears were

expertly anaesthetised by Dr. Kati Loeffler and professionally loaded

into transport cages by the Animals Asia team, where they began the

twenty three hour journey home by road, to the centre.

 

At a press conference to welcome the two new bears to Chengdu, Mr

Deng Xiansui, General Secretary of the Sichuan Forestry Department

and partner of Animals Asia in the China Bear Rescue project,

said: " This is an important day for bear protection in China because

this rescue signifies not only our commitment to saving farmed bears,

but also helping those from the wild. "

 

Jill Robinson MBE, Founder and CEO of Animals Asia said: " We are

tremendously proud to work with both the Sichuan and Litang Forestry

Departments in rescue programmes such as this which move us closer to

our goal of ending the barbaric bear farming industry Asia wide. "

 

Animals Asia Veterinarian, Dr. Kati Loeffler, said: " The bears are

small and thin for their age, but lively and playful too. Whilst it

was quite a difficult procedure, we were able to anaesthetise them in

the pit, pull them out and perform a full health check in torrential

rain. On the way home, both bears were amazingly calm, had good

appetites, built nests with the straw in their cages, and appeared to

sleep well throughout much of the trip. "

 

Joining 185 bears rescued from horrific bear farms since the year

2000, Benji and Poupouce who have also been given the Chinese names

of Pei Pei (circle of jade usually worn by royalty), and Ai Xin

(kind heart), are now being prepared for their new lives of freedom

with nourishing food and water on demand, masses of tender loving

care and an eventual release into spacious, grassy enclosures

complete with trees, swimming pools and climbing frames. A daily

changing calendar of challenging, enriching programmes will also keep

these intelligent youngsters busy and happy for the rest of their

lives.

Ends.

 

Annie Mather

Executive Director, Head of Media

Animals Asia Foundation

Hong Kong

 

ANIMALS ASIA HAS A BRAND NEW WEBSITE!

Find out more about the " China Bear Rescue " and " Friends....or Food? "

http://www.animalsasia.org