Sections In Tributes Tribute to Haribo Sleep well little Haribo Jills Blog Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 06:12 PM There are no words to express our sense of loss as once again I have to tell you of the death of one of our beautiful bears. Especially a bear like Haribo, whose determination to survive captured the hearts of all who had the privilege to know him. I fell in love with this bear from the second he arrived, and it grew as he so bravely tolerated wave after wave of health-checks and surgeries so necessary to correct the ravages of his life on the farm Squat and dumpy like Blanca and Woodley (hence his nickname “Poodley” on arrival), he never once bore a grudge for his past and just got on with the present. He loved every type of food, making those attention-seeking "raspberry" sounds whenever he wanted more – knowing full well that certain pockets were full of gummy bears. Thankfully, he made it to the special-care area of Rupert, Franzi and Snoopy's house and just adored his time outdoors – snoring happily underneath the stars. No other bear outside of Rupert captured fussy Franzi’s heart either, and her interest in the fellow on the other side of the bars made us hope that she might one day end up with two toy boys, who would make her feel the special bear she is. I'm so sorry I couldn't be in Chegdu last Friday with the team, who were, I know, weeping rivers for the loss of this brave little bear. Here is vet Jen’s update on events as, with sad, sad hearts, we all say farewell to another bear who teaches us the meaning of forgiveness: Little Haribo, who stole everyone’s heart was sadly euthanised today after his hind legs failed him. Over the past two weeks, he had become progressively worse, from being quite stiff, to not being able to stand at all and not wanting to move for the special treats Caroline lovingly made for him daily. Haribo had been a fighter getting through his early surgery and later episodes of bloating and vomiting despite all medical efforts. On post mortem, it was found that his oesophagus was dilated many times more than normal which despite our medical management could not have been fixed. X-rays confirmed that his spine had multiple areas where the disc spaces were compressed, over time putting more and more pressure on his spinal cord slowly cutting off the nerve function to his hind legs. We all wanted to keep Haribo with us for a very long time, but we all knew that we needed to make sure that Haribo left this world still being able to enjoy that one last gummy bear! www.animalsasia.org Tribute to Mafi Amazingly, Mafi managed to put the horror of her past behind her, spending four happy years at the rescue centre. Mafi, our beautiful ambassador bear, whose photo appeared on the cover of our 2008 calendar and also on the cover of our recently released photo book “Freedom Moon”, died on 12 March, the latest victim of liver cancer. Sadly, we had only recently chosen Mafi as one of our official ambassador bears by including her as one of the bears in our Befriend a Bear programme. When Mafi, whose name means “forgiveness” in Hindi, came to our Chengdu Moon Bear Rescue in 2005, she was a deeply distressed bear. Her years of torture on a bile farm had left her extremely frail, anxious and prone to stereotypic pacing and rocking. We’re not sure how long Mafi spent caged on a farm in Sichuan, but it was long enough to cause irreparable damage to her gall bladder and to plant the seed for the massive liver tumour that ultimately took her life. During her hellish years on the farm, Mafi was crammed into a tiny cage and milked daily for her bile through a permanent hole that was carved into her abdomen and gall bladder. Each time the farmer extracted bile, he would use a tube or rod to prod open the infected wound, which was naturally trying to heal. The constant pain this poor bear endured for so long is impossible to imagine. In the early days of her rescue, Mafi refused all food until our bear carers convinced her to try sedative-laced fruit smoothies, which eased some of her anxiety. Over time, she started to respond to the care and attention lavished on her by her carers and the real Mafi began to emerge. Amazingly, she not only recovered, but took to her new life of freedom with the exuberance of a child. Naturally curious and playful, Mafi was often the first bear to try out new rehab equipment, such as “her” beloved swing, that kept her enthralled for hours at a time. She was with us for four years, and right up to the end, she delighted in robust play as if each day were her first day of freedom. True to her name, Mafi managed to put the past behind her, forgiving the species that had caused her such agony ************************************************************ Four good years Sunday, March 15, 2009, 08:43 AM Jills Blog The dreaded “policeman’s knock” came at 9.20am on Thursday. It was Jill on the line, her voice trembling slightly: “Oh Ange, I’m so sorry ….” I knew immediately it was Mafi. But it made no sense. The last time I’d seen this gorgeous, outrageous bear, she was frolicking happily, bowling over other bears with her boisterous play and hogging “her” swing. Mafi was life itself. Jill, who was in Chengdu with Mafi when the vet team anaesthetised her and discovered she had a massive liver tumour, had kindly called so I could say a few words to her over the phone as she was gently put to sleep. Words failed me then as they do now. Jill later asked if I’d like to write about Mafi on her blog. I’ve really been struggling with this because words, or at least my handling of them, simply seem inadequate. Jill also asked for some words from Donata, (who is the current Bear Manager of the team of caring people who have given Mafi so many wonderful days in paradise). I'm sure she has some incredible memories to share with us when she has the time …. So I’ll keep my words short, and instead post four photos that for me best show Mafi’s amazing journey from the frail, anxious, depleted soul that was delivered to our China sanctuary four and a half years ago to the inspiring ambassador for moon bears that she became. This stunning bear, who appeared on the cover of our 2008 calendar and our photo book “Freedom Moon”, was after all our full-figured supermodel, who loved nothing more than posing for photos. The first shot was taken the day poor Mafi arrived at the sanctuary in Chengdu. All the bears arrive in tiny cages, but even by the horrific standards of the farms, the size of Mafi’s cage was shocking. She was severely distressed in those early days, exhibiting stereotypic pacing and rocking. Months of sedative-laced fruit shakes, good nutrition, world-class veterinary treatment and highly professional day-to-day care by patient and kind people saw her gradually build up trust in her carers and Mafi blossomed (and, ahem, bloomed). So some months later when I had the privilege of meeting this incredible animal, she was calm enough to sit happily in her comfy straw-filled recovery cage and take the honey-roasted cashews I offered her. I noticed she was cleverly squirreling some away for later, making a little stash with her paw, then looking at me with those cow-brown eyes and gently rolling out her tongue for more. Who could not love this bear? That was in 2005: The next two photos show how easily this magnificent bear was able to turn my despair to joy for a few minutes just watching her at play during the horrific rescue of 28 skeletal bears last March. These images also show so how well she lived up to her name, “Mafi”, which means “forgiveness” in Hindi (and was suggested to me by my dear friend Archana in Bangalore). This spirited bear did not waste one moment of her four good years. And this last image is one I love dearly. It was our Marketing Director, Juanita, who first noticed this photo had that extra special quality. And it has. Just look at Mafi's face. www.animalsasia.org Tribute to Shui 13 more bears arrive 'home' Saturday, February 7, 2009, 05:22 PM As 13 more bears arrived home sadly it was already too late for Shui. As Shui was anaesthetised last night and we saw his swollen abdomen and waterlogged lungs fighting to combat liver disease, with no hope of winning. These are the people who cried when Heather gently put “Shui” (Water) to sleep and then grieved at his cremation today; sadly saying goodbye to a bear they hardly knew. Here is a photo of gentle Shui: As the flames, smoke and Shui’s spirit rose silently into the sky – the lines of the poem “Please look upon the others and give them promise of hope soon – and tell them to be patient and proudly wear the moon” gave comfort and strength to a group of people here in Chengdu – and to our team across the world – who proudly honour the bears. Tribute to Chris Farewell our googly Chris Tuesday, February 3, 2009, 06:52 PM Just when I’d written about Chris’s new lease on life, things took a turn for the worse. Over the weekend, Chris (also known by his Chinese name “Sang Sang”) went rapidly downhill and had bad mobility on his back legs. Any pain was well disguised and as he dragged his body to some pieces of food in the den on Saturday. You’d have thought that the front end was completely disconnected from the back. Shuffling over for a small digestive biscuit, he curled those big, soft lips of his around my fingers and closed his eyes in complete bliss at this unexpected treat. And then he was off to have a nap. Again shuffling over toward his basket bed – remembering to pick up his hessian sack along the way – and clambering clumsily inside onto the straw. For a good 10 minutes, he laboriously arranged the sack and straw just the way he thought it should be, before settling down for a snooze. And that’s how I want to remember him today as we say a sad farewell to this brave and beautiful boy, with the scarred tum and googly eyes, who has never been anything but gentle and forgiving since the day he arrived. We don’t have favourites … much, and Heather (our Senior Vet) adored Chris too, and penned some words of goodbye: Chris was a bear of very little brain, his pleasures were simple – food and a cosy straw bed to curl up in. He arrived in 2002 with a swollen belly utterly traumatised by bile extraction – large gaping wounds dripped pus and bile and no one knew if he would pull through the long and complicated surgery to excise his rotting gall bladder. However (probably sensing that there was good grub to be found here) Chris struggled through and went on to make a complete recovery. He became best friends with Honey, a stroppy little pitbull of a bear, intolerant of all others, except for her big goofy den-mate, and enjoyed many happy years in House 3. With his distinctive furrowed brow and “googly” eyes, Chris was instantly recognisable, but it was his gentle nature and almost comical enthusiasm for all things food-related that endeared him to the whole team. In 2007, we started Chris on anti-inflammatory medication after we noticed him becoming stiffer and less active. Despite an initial improvement, this was the beginning of a slow decline for Chris. Over the last 18 months, Chris became a walking pharmacy of anti-inflammatory and painkilling drugs, given to alleviate his severe spinal and joint arthritis, but regardless of his hind-limb stiffness, his head remained young and bright and his nose always sniffing for the next lick of peanut butter. Last month, we made the difficult decision to remove Chris from his group and retire him in a small den and enclosure where he could more easily access the specially designed low beds. It was definitely the right decision. Over the last month we have observed Chris lying happily for hours in his bed chewing on browse and snuggling into straw, or burrowing into his pile of wood-shavings and sunbathing in his enclosure. Sadly his gradual decline continued and the progressive nature of his arthritis has won out. Yesterday we made the heartbreaking decision to anaesthetise Chris one last time. Slurping happily on his favourite strawberry sauce, he barely noticed the anaesthetic injection. He was gently euthanised with the bear team and our management, education and office staff around him, his body a testament to the indomitable spirit of bile farmed bears. His post-mortem examination revealed that his spine was so weakened by malnutrition and years of caging that his vertebrae had collapsed, his scarred liver harboured a large cyst and his thyroid gland was riddled with cancer. Sleep well little bear. You will be missed. The funeral was crowded – our Chinese and Western staff paying tribute to a much-loved bear who had so clearly adored his seven years of freedom and choice. Farewell Chris from your family in Chengdu who loved and respected you to the moon – and back. ********************************************************** A new lease on life for Chris Thursday, January 29, 2009, 07:51 AM Jills Blog www.animalsasia.org This was a bear who originally had a belly full of pus and a hernia the size of a football. I'll never forget Chris arriving at our door on the 10th of June 2002 from a bear farm in Dujiangyan. There were five of them – including Chris – who we heard “hooting” even before the truck had arrived. A mournful cry of misery and pain from a bear whose life was coming to an end. The cages were stacked vertically on the truck meaning that the farmer had tried to save the costs of hiring another truck by cramming as many bears as he could on just one. This had forced the bears to make the long journey literally standing up on back feet all the way for hours – a very uncomfortable position for a sick animal who naturally walked on all four paws. (Chris is second from the left). Chris was quickly scheduled for surgery as a preliminary health-check revealed his massive hernia, pus leaking from holes in his abdomen and a suspected case of life-threatening peritonitis. During the operation, it was found that the original surgery on the farm had indeed caused bile leakage which, thankfully for this very lucky bear, had been contained between the muscle layers and skin. Over the next few days and weeks, this gorgeous bear began to trust his human carers to the extent that he even allowed several “drains” to be put into his abdomen, enabling the infection to pour out of his body. He would even walk over to the bars of his den, sit up for at treat, while our nurses sprayed his tum and flushed out his wounds. Seven years later our big old goof Chris has a horribly scarred abdomen which would put Frankenstein’s monster to shame, but a placid, happy temperament – Chris is friendly to bears and people alike. Sadly, over the years Chris has also become very arthritic as a result of spending so many years in a cage. It was time for more specialised care – and a bed which was closer to the ground than the normal hanging-basket beds in his house. As blind bears Mityan and Akimo were moved to another house to begin an integration with a large group of bears, there was now a space in the enclosure we call our special-care area – or Secret Garden. Here, bears like old, old Franzi and her brain-damaged boyfriend Rupert snuggle up together, and blind Snoopy (who starred in the Christmas Kiss film previously on my blog) lives next door. Sitting here on a Sunday afternoon, I can't stop smiling as I look out onto Chris utterly adoring his new home. All morning he’s been pottering around in his garden. Happily finding food hidden here and there, and now playing carelessly with the cabbage leaves he doesn’t much care for. Once his tum is full, it must be time to play and here this stiff and arthritic bear really comes into his own. It’s not as if there’s been some miraculous recovery – he’s still on the same drugs as before – but just that this very novel area is giving him and his stiff old bones a new lease on life. For the past few hours, he’s been digging up great clods of soil with his massive, clumsy paws, throwing twigs and leaves into the air, tearing open hessian sacks with straw inside, and rolling over and over in the grass. And now he’s spotted the sawdust pit and is lying on his back, loving the sweet-smelling woodchips and gleefully finding the occasional treat hidden in the pile. Sometimes he’ll just sit and look around, perhaps enjoying the smell of freedom – and if ever I wonder just why we are here, bears like Chris let me know. Luckily vet Leanne had her camera at hand! www.animalsasia.org Tribute to Andrew ANDREW WAS THE FIRST MOON BEAR TO BE RESCUED BY ANIMALS ASIA "We are not weaker without Andrew, but stronger because of him." TRIBUTE TO ANDREW (Beautiful song and short video documenting Andrew's rescue, his first steps of freedom and his life at the bear sanctuary and his very moving buriel) This is a YouTube video play once then play again if it keeps sticking the first time. Tragically, February saw our beloved Andrew's last Spring. Taken from us by the ravages of liver cancer - a killer we know so well and believe is connected with the massive infection originating on the bear farms. No words can explain our grief, but Andrew's death has united us all with the determination that he will never die in vain. Our noble, forgiving, gentle giant who will live in our hearts forever. For those of you who have shared our special moments with the bears over the years, I'm so sorry to pass on the sad, sad news that we said goodbye to our number one ambassador, three-legged Andrew, (Anderloo as he is named in Chinese), on Thursday, 9th February 2006. Following a month of eating less and sleeping more, Andrew had a health check and ultrasound which revealed that something was horribly wrong. Our Vets, Kati and Phill, began abdominal surgery and found the most aggressive and ugly cancer I have ever seen in my life. The removed tumour, weighing 7.3kgs surpassed anything we have seen before and, because the liver was so terribly affected (with approximately 5% of its normal function remaining), Andrew's blood wasn't able to clot and he had been slowly bleeding to death. Even on Wednesday, he ate more than he'd eaten the whole week before; those soft gentle lips pursing for another slice of tomato, a second tub of yogurt and a blueberry muffin, causing us to wonder for a second whether we were right to bring his surgery forward. So many variables are involved - and in the past we have felt surgery essential, only to find nothing medically wrong as the bears have entered a "normal" pattern of lethargic, inappetant behaviour associated with hibernation of the species in the wild. Yet, it was the killer we know so well... liver cancer; possibly originating from a tumour factor of aggressive cells connected with the massive infection from damage caused on the farms - the demon that lurked silently in Andrew's body, waiting for the chance to strike. No words can ever explain the grief everyone here is feeling - we cremated and buried our mighty Andrew at 6pm last evening, with local TV cameras and the San Francisco Chronicle recording another chapter in bear farming history - an outpouring of anger and sadness which is difficult to describe even now, but which united everyone here in the conviction and determination that Andrew will never die in vain. I know too that this will be a horribly sad message for those of you who loved Andrew and enjoyed all the updates about his life over the past five and a half years. Andrew was so much more than our ambassador, our friend.... he was the bear who began it all; our noble, forgiving, gentle giant who will live in our hearts forever. Someone has written: "You are not weaker without Andrew, you are stronger because of him." And we are. R.I.P. Anderloo, we love you. Jillx Jill Robinson MBE Founder & CEO Animals Asia Foundation The 3-metre-high, 300-kilo statue of beloved “Andrew” now stands at our Chengdu rescue centre as a monument to Andrew’s majestic spirit and gentle, forgiving nature. The stunning work, which was donated to Animals Asia by renowned Shanghai sculptor Tsao Zhi Rong, was unveiled by our biggest benefactor, Hong Kong businessman Frank Pong. It was a proud moment for all of us --the 140 local and six international staff, Government officials and other VIPs who gathered to watch the unveiling – many of the workers had helped nurse Andrew back to health when he arrived at the rescue centre in a pitiful state in 2000. Above photo's were taken by Gill Williams working as a vetinerary nurse at the Chengdu sanctuary for 3 months, March to May 2007. < On a lighter note, life goes on at the Chengdu sanctuary, click here to view the Bear Breakfast video Not to be missed! (wmv format) www.animalsasia.org Tribute to Willow Goodbye gentle Willow Jill's Blog Friday, February 1, 2008, 02:55 PM I still believe in miracles, but today the miracle went to someone else. As we held Willow’s paws, while Heather injected the fluid that would end his life, we wept. It hardly seems a week ago to the day when we were all so hopeful as this brave bear was into his third day of recovering from the massive tumour removed from his liver. But the warning bells sounded just two days ago as vets Heather and Lara alerted us all to the bright-yellow bile seeping from his surgical wound. Knowing how invasive bile is....seeing bears arriving from the farms suffering from the final impacts of peritonitis, we knew the situation was grim. For his part, Willow didn’t seem to know anything at all in this last week of his life except that he was thoroughly enjoying an array of fruity medicated shakes, ever-changing toys to play with and the endless loving care of his human friends just willing him to live. Now seeing Willow on the surgery table for another exploratory operation, the news was exactly as we’d feared. Although the surgical site where the liver tumour was removed had completely healed over, the tumours’ legacy had begun a cycle in his body that was now impossible to heal. As staff on site sadly trailed over to say their goodbyes, to hold his soft, warm paws one last time, our hospital staff prepared for the next few hours of recording his death. I'll leave it to Heather’s own words for summing up: “On post mortem, it showed that the bile leakage came from an inflamed area on the left side of Willow’s liver. We suspect that the tumour cells remaining in his liver had infiltrated his bile duct, blocking the drainage of bile from the liver into the intestines and causing a build-up of bile, which resulted in the rupture on the left-hand side.” Ironically, if the bile hadn’t seeped through his surgical wound, it would have continued evading his body, and would ultimately have led to the full-blown and very painful peritonitis, which is killing these bears on the farms. Last night I fed him two fruit gums and smiled as he took the first – a green one – and began investigating something obviously never enjoyed before. A few cautious, but interested, licks before setting the sweet down onto the back of his paw – plate-like – as he had a few sniffs and decided that, yes, it was quite safe to eat. The next – orange this time – saw exactly the same routine before he settled down to suck happily with all the quiet relish of a small and contented child. This afternoon as we say goodbye to Willow and send his spirit to the sky, in his grave among his favourite toys and food will be a single yellow “moon crescent” fruit gum for him to explore and enjoy as he starts his new journey and leaves a world where he was loved and respected. We also sent him off with a CD of his very own song, which was written and recorded by our wonderful Aussie supporter, Bernard Curry. See Jill's blog on the Animals Asia site to hear “Willow’s Song”. One person missing at his funeral was his sponsor – our own Media Manager, Angela in Hong Kong. Devastated by the death of her beloved bear, Angela has written some words in memory of her beautiful Willow. “I gave you a name that spoke of your beauty, your grace; of China and the West. I gave you a name that spoke of the unspeakable – your past, your sorrow, our shame. “You gave me so much more – a lesson, not yet learned. I think of you and feel the earnest brush of your tongue, so grateful for the fruit I fed you, so careful not to hurt my hand. You forgave the unforgivable and tried to teach me to do the same. So now I’ll wear your fur in a locket, a reminder of all you meant, and still mean. Weep no more gentle Willow. Take your place next to the rushing stream and let the good earth warm your soul. And sleep your deep, bear sleep. It’s going to be a long winter this year.” And now, with Willow’s friends lying lazily out in their enclosures on a sunny and bitterly cold day, where the sky is blue and the clouds sometimes froth into images of bears tumbling on their backs, we smile through our sadness as life goes on. www.animalsasia.org Tribute to Peace “Peace” – a symbol of shame Tuesday, April 1, 2008, 07:02 AM It’s been a frantic and heartbreaking day for everyone here on site, but just quickly, more bad news I’m afraid. Two more beautiful bears have died today, one we euthanised to put him out of his agony, the other simply couldn’t hold on any longer – and who could blame him? I’ll bring you more details as soon as I have a moment, but for now let me share with you this beautiful tribute to “Peace”, the poor bear that was delivered to us dead last night. It was written by our Veterinary Consultant, Dr Kati Loeffler. Where she found the time, I don’t know, because she and the rest of the team have literally been working non-stop. Peace, whose skeletal, necrotic paw – literally rotting away – is pictured below, had been left to wither away on the farm with no water and no food, clearly no longer producing bile, so no longer of use. Here are Kati’s words: Peace was an Asiatic black bear who died on the truck from the bile farm to the AAF sanctuary. He lay crunched into the tiny coffin cage, his emaciated head propped against one end and his right arm flung through the bars as though in a final plea for someone to end his suffering. His body was more emaciated than one would believe possible to have still been alive. His eyes were sunken deep into the skull, small and lifeless and jaundiced. The right hind paw was stripped of flesh, revealing the skeleton of toes and the rotten, leathered skin crumpled over the end like a sock trying to come off. Deep gouges into the tissue of his right forepaw suggested that Peace may have tried to chew off his flesh to detract from the agony of his body. On opening the abdomen, the veterinary team found the liver abused with cancer, the lining of the gall bladder cobbled and angry with polyps, the bile thick from dehydration and starvation, the tissue jaundiced from liver failure, and bile leaking into the abdominal cavity. This bear had suffered unconscionable agonies. His final plea drowned in the rattle of a diesel truck that did not deliver him in time to know the only succor he may have ever received. www.animalsasia.org Tribute to Treacle NO SWEETNESS FOR "TREACLE" Wednesday, April 2, 2008, 10:35 PM http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/ After the heartache of “Peace”, we so much wanted to have some good news to lift everyone’s hearts here in Chengdu. Obviously it wasn’t meant to be. With so many sick and injured bears, we knew that our prioritisation of these poor creatures was imperative in order to bring the suffering of the worst to an end. Depressingly, we knew too that, by doing this job well, we would of course be ending our day with yet another post mortem. “Treacle” was a bear so, so sick it is hard to write this message without resorting to violent accusation of the people responsible for his despair. As our boys offloaded him from the truck the night before, he didn’t seem so bad; tucking into a cocktail of fruit and guzzling down water like an animal that had obviously never experienced the simple choice of eating and drinking at will. But early the next morning, Treacle (we gave him this name because his blood was thick from dehydration) was lying almost prone in his cage with blood gushing from the “fistula” in his abdomen that had previously drained his bile. Prioritising him first for a health check – ahead of other sick bears we were desperate to reach – Treacle (pictured below with Senior Vet Heather on the right) was anaesthetised and laid out on the poly-tunnel floor as the examination began. The silence conveyed the shock of everyone in the team as we saw a bear that had been butchered by men on the farms who had not given a jot for the sentient, intelligent animal in their violent clutches. His canine teeth had been hacked away – with pulp and nerves exposed. A black hole of infection had gouged its way into his upper jaw and sinuses, causing excruciating pain. His paw tips were chopped away, ensuring claws would never grow again and cause damage to the brutal human extractors of his bile. And the bristle-like crude and smelly scrubbing brushes on his paw pads, showed that this poor bear had not walked on solid ground for years. Most shocking of all was the giant mass on his liver that immediately showed up on the ultrasound – revealing the “norm” we have come to know for bear farmed bears – inoperable tumours. As Treacle was euthanised on the floor, never to have romped in the spring, and surrounded by the only friends he had ever known, the team wept unashamedly together. The post-mortem, which we’d expected would end late in the day, was finished in record time. As Senior Vet Heather put down her instruments, she turned to me and said, “We’re getting too good at this.” How sad it is to admit that she’s right. www.animalsasia.org Tribute to Irwin & Yin Yang Goodbye Irwin and Yin Yang Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 07:12 PM 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 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. Tribute to Kiki "KIKI - A WASTED LIFE" Thursday, April 3, 2008, 03:27 AM http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/ This is more than we can stand....two more bears have succumbed to liver cancer – leaving our team to pick up the pieces and end the lives of animals who deserved so much more. Many walls have been kicked in frustration since the bears arrived late on Monday night. It is only Wednesday and already four bears are lying in grassy mounds by the river, finally at peace. Cutting Kiki out of a cage that was squeezing the life from his body, it wasn’t hard to understand why he was so flat and unresponsive. My enduring memory of this bear was when he desperately stuck out his tongue for a lick of fruity shake and then frantically clawed at his mouth clearly in anguish and pain. All we could see on the outside was red and ulcerated lips, but little were we prepared for what was to come. For long periods Kiki had moaned almost continuously and showed evidence of severe abdominal discomfort. His moans disturbed us deeply as we have learned from experience that they signal a bear at death’s door – and we wasted no time in anaesthetising him for an emergency health check. He smelled strongly of necrosis – severely diseased and rotting flesh. All four canines had been cut or broken off, and several teeth had been torn away, along with sections of the gum – and all of his remaining teeth were shattered beyond repair. Unbelievably, his right eye was rotten – as a result of an ulcer that had festered for months – and his left eye showed signs of disease as well. His claws were torn, bleeding and infected, with the familiar “bristles” present on the pads of a bear that has never walked in years. An ulcer flowing with pus had left a deep hole about six inches wide in his back leg, with the flesh rotted nearly to the bone. The truly awful smell of his body and detection of fluid in the abdomen made us suspect peritonitis, and he was immediately taken to surgery. Opening Kiki’s abdomen revealed the stomach and intestines to be grossly distended with gas, which was compressing the heart and lungs, causing immeasurable pain. Still we prayed, and still our team continued to work on this sleeping bear, with hope eternal, until the room went silent.......and Kiki was dead. The post-mortem showed another list of abuse, which was almost impossible to comprehend... including liver cancer, large and painful stones in the gall bladder, pus infused bile, a diseased spleen, septicaemia on the spine (which was also found to be arthritic). This was a bear that had no hope of ever pulling through.....RIP Kiki, from a team so ashamed to think of your miserable, wasted life. www.animalsasia.org Tribute to Lotus THE TRUTH OF BEAR FARMING Thursday, April 3, 2008, 05:56 Taken from Jill's blog: http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080403-055604 Health-checking Lotus, whom we’d also called “Chengdu Truth” in Chinese. There are no words to describe our boiling rage at witnessing this skeleton sitting in a cage with a body so wasted that he couldn’t even lift his head. Many of you reading this will remember another bear I named “Truth” on a farm years ago in Yunnan. We didn’t manage to save her, but I swore her death would not be in vain. Now here in Chengdu, we now had our own Truth, even more wasted than his namesake His badly abscessed shoulders exposed the brutality of callous injection attempts by the butchers on the farms. This poor bear had obviously been so sick that the so-called doctors had decided to punch inappropriate antibiotics into his muscle, delivering it by unsterile needles, which had ultimately caused painful open wounds now pouring with pus. Under anaesthetic, the ultrasound images once again caused our hearts to sink...and, on the surgery table minutes later we saw a liver that had begun a cycle of cancer which had then “seeded” through his poor depleted body. Truth lay there after death; tiny and vulnerable, with naked front limbs, paws that looked strangely human, and sunken hopeless eyes. Hours earlier, these were the same eyes that had suspiciously followed our every move as we offered water he occasionally sipped, fruit he ignored and words of comfort that fell on deaf ears. Here was an animal that made us turn away in shame knowing that our words of apology and sorrow were meaningless to a bear born of hope, but so utterly let down by a species that has shown it simply doesn’t care. That he died with this in his heart is almost too much to bear www.animalsasia.org Tribute to Papermoon Farewell “Papermoon” Jill's blog Sunday, May 4, 2008, 09:53 AM So sorry to bring you more sad news from Chengdu. We have just lost Papermoon, who has been with us for nearly eight years and was one of the original three bears who started this amazing journey with us all. We’ll all miss her – she had a temper on her that would make bears and people jump in surprise – opinionated, stubborn, but with a gentle and affectionate side too. One of the elderly matriarchs of the enclosure, this larger than life bear, who the rescue centre staff nicknamed “Gail”, made us smile for reasons we’re not really sure of. Papermoon passed away late on Wednesday night after a battle well fought. I’m in Spain now and it was the saddest of calls to hear Heather at midnight (her time in China) saying there was nothing more that she and the team could do. These amazing girls had, once again, sat with a bear through several nights checking her, reassuring her, doing everything they could. Papermoon, sponsored by a lovely lady in Germany, was such a fighter. She was one of the first group of three bears we received on a cold night of October 2000 – in a crush cage just behind Andrew and Melody. Beside herself with rage and fear, she convulsed almost incessantly from the time she arrived. Her body was such a mess. Badly arthritic, teeth and paw tips hacked away, a horrible latex catheter that protruded from her abdomen and then snaked under her skin and exited at the hip – with all the underlying infection you’d expect. As if that wasn’t enough she had a huge dinner-plate-sized burn on her back – festering, weeping and obviously terribly painful. Although the surgery went well, Papermoon’s temper and convulsing didn’t improve in all the time she was in the recovery cage. It was only when she was put into a den – with Heather, Crystal and Joy that she started behaving like a bear. Since then, these four “girls” remained together – clustered around in a tight little group, “gossiping” for hours on end and earning the most appropriate name of “the knitting circle”. Woe betide any silly young male who sauntered too close – they were taking no nonsense and would all open wide mouths of warning, which would see the boldest male scuttling back into the safety of his own den. The group lost Joy from liver cancer in 2004 and will be all the quieter now for the loss of “Gail”. www.animalsasia.org Tribute to Bossham RIP brave Bossham Tuesday, July 1, 2008, 06:59 PM I’m so sad to have to bring you the news that Bossham, who was among the 28 moon bears rescued on 31 March, has died. This brings to 13 the total number of bears from that group that have succumbed to ailments caused by their appalling treatment on the farms. Bossham was a brave and beautiful bear with a glorious temperament despite his disabilities; he was so much loved by us all. Dr Kati Loeffler, our Veterinary Consultant, was with this brave boy at the end. This is Kati’s account of his last few weeks: “Bossham joined the AAF family on 31 March this year in a group of the sickest bears that AAF has ever been able to rescue from bear bile farms. He was a large, beautiful, gentle-mannered bear, suffering quietly in a cage into which he had been crammed like clothes into a suitcase. Once we pulled him out of his bear farm cage and he woke in his new spacious quarters, it became evident that something was badly wrong with his hind limbs. He could not use them. At first it seemed that he could not move them at all. But with encouragement, assistance, and tireless veterinary care from the staff at the Moon Bear Rescue Centre, he gradually gained the ability to move his limbs, then to roll himself onto his chest and to sit up. In the last few weeks he was even able to stand for brief periods of time. He loved his food and ate voraciously, desperately, as though every meal would be his last. It is one of the greatest pleasures to be able to work with these bears as they slowly begin to trust and learn to relinquish the fear of starvation and pain with which they had lived all of their lives before Animals Asia. We so looked forward to Bossham's journey into trust. Then suddenly 10 days ago he suffered a seizure. He responded well to the emergency veterinary treatment and within a day appeared back to his normal self, progressing steadily toward wellness. And then this morning (30 June) we found him dead. He died of a massively distended stomach, which stretched literally to breaking point and caused the collapse of his circulatory system. The cause of this and whether it was related to the cause of the seizure is difficult to know. But Bossham was now the third bear in that March 31 group with such a condition. The first one died on the surgery table; the second, Poodley/Haribo, was able to be saved. And yet prior to these three bears, only one of nearly 200 bears were bloated like this. One must wonder if there was something on the farm from which these bears came – in the food, a toxin, something causing damage to the normal function of the intestines – that predisposed them to such an agonising death. Rest in peace Bossham.” Qiang Sheng & Le Le Spring flowers and heavy hearts Friday, April 4, 2008, 05:56 PM http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080404-175627 Today we buried three more bears – Qiang Sheng (Strong Life), Le Le (Happy) and Chengdu Truth (Lotus) All died from liver cancers, all seeing people who loved them – just for a few days – grieving more than words can say. Never before in the eight years of being here have we said goodbye to three bears together – and this week we have been through it twice. Lined up like soldiers, battle lost, the score is now farmers 7 bears 0....and we are almost certain as we continue emergency health checks that more will also not make it through. Today is known as grave-sweeping day – where people here in China pay homage to their dead. Just before the bear funerals began. our Chinese staff arrived at the garden of peace with beautiful yellow rapeseed flowers, which they gently placed on every grave for our bears, dogs and cats that we’ve loved and lost over the years Some of the staff were wearing garlands around their heads, reminding us of kind little elves as they carefully made sure that every grave was decorated with spring flowers of love. They are remarkable – I have no words to express the pride I feel for people who have now spent a whole week working long, hard and exhausting hours, and then weeping for bears they hardly knew, but are grieving for just the same. On the way back from the funerals, once again we strolled past Jasper’s bear house and there he was sitting at the front of the grassy enclosure just watching, in a way that seemed to say he understood our despair. The vision of him and his healthy, chubby-bottomed friends playing and sleeping as they choose contrasts profoundly with the bears we’ve just buried and gives us hope and strength – and a reason for why we are here. www.animalsasia.org Tribute to Plug RIP little "Plug" Thursday, June 12, 2008, 07:25 PM I’m so sorry to bring you the news that another of our latest batch of rescued bears has died – one more bear that just couldn’t rise above the torture and succumbed. Since he arrived, Plug has featured in almost every vet report as being a worrisome bear and the team has been battling so hard to bring him through. We always felt that even though the remaining bears of the original 28 were getting better, they were by no means out of the woods yet. Remember that we suspected we received the very worst bears from all the surrounding farms even though we were told that it was just one farm closing down. This was probably true; the farmer has “swapped” the bears deemed healthier on his farm with those that were sick on other farms. The farmers would have known they had dying, or at least “substandard” bears on their farms and happily exchanged them for healthier bears, thus seeing us receiving a whole group of sick bears, of which Plug was one The resulting evidence of such sickness is increasingly weighing up in our favour – we’re working hard with local pathologists towards proving to the Government will see that our fears were right. My heart goes out to our Senior Vet, Heather, and the rest of the team, who were making such progress with this angry little bear. Here’s a message from Heather, who has been with Plug since Day 1: Sadly today (Wednesday), we euthanised another of our new bears, S229 “Plug”, named after the Beano character of the same name because of his enormous ears, which looked extra-big atop his thin face when he arrived. Plug concerned us on arrival due to his emaciated condition and the low rumbling moan that he made when any human approached. He was the first bear to undergo removal of his gall bladder as we were so concerned about his thin condition, and during the surgery we checked him thoroughly for other problems, but found nothing to account for his emaciated condition. Physically, Plug healed quickly from his surgery, but when moved into a larger recovery cage, his psychological scars became apparent. He was extremely angry and aggressive, swiping at people who came nearby and refusing to eat. With patience and anti-anxiety medication, he improved a little and started accepting fruity medicated shakes from us, but continued to make anxious vocalisations and have a poor appetite and intermittent diarrhoea. A few weeks ago he developed persistent diarrhoea, which was treated with antibiotics and probiotics. Faecal tests showed no parasites or obvious causes for this diarrhoea and we continued rapport-building with him, offering delicious gut-friendly treats, such as yoghurt, to try and convince him that not all humans were bad. However, today Plug appeared worse. We immediately took him to surgery and found that his large bowel had perforated, causing spillage of his gut contents into the abdomen and peritonitis. Sadly the damage was too severe to repair and he was put to sleep. There are many reasons why his gut could be so inflamed and the severe stress and malnutrition he suffered on the farm would definitely be major factors in his inflammatory bowel disease. Although we cannot prove it, we are suspicious that Plug may have been a wild-caught bear that simply could not adapt to his incarceration on a farm and to close human contact. Our only consolation is that before he died, Plug experienced the freedom to stretch his limbs and discovered many yummy treats. I hope he died knowing that not all humans are bad. RIP