On site again for breakfast with the bears and to spend the day with Jill Robinson, founder and CEO of Animals Asia Foundation. Finally, she has bee allowed out of her room where she was quarantined for potential swine flu because she was on the same flight and sitting near to a man who was confirmed as having it.
Jill explains about the horrors of bear bile farming to visitors
As we wandered around the sanctuary Jill was clearly delighted to be back with her bears. She knew many of the bears by name and can relay each of their stories. Her passion is relentless and as we wandered past a group of local families here for an Open Day (which happen monthly) she immediately spoke to them about the horrors of bear bile farming and the needless suffering of these beautiful creatures.
Hopefully another group educated and informed about the facts. These are the people who can stop bear bile farming. Many Chinese people are horrified when they are told how the bile is extracted and slowly, with education and awareness, Jill hopes to put a stop to the industry, not only in China but also across Vietnam and South Korea.
We visited the rehabilitation enclosure, which houses the bears that came to the sanctuary last March. It has taken this long, through a very carefully managed programme, to get the bears to a stage where they can leave their dens and play on grass and feel the sun.
Breakfast in the rehabilitation enclosure
But it is not all ‘happy days’ - some of them are still displaying mental stress and behavioural problems, rocking back and forth or pacing. These bears may be physically freed from their past but in some cases, the dreadful experiences they have suffered will stay with them.
Enjoying a back scratch
Relaxing on a sun chair
There are special enclosures for special bears. The disabled enclosure contains bears that have lost a limb due to being trapped and dragged off to a bear bile farm. Some had no teeth because they had worn them down to nothing on the bars of their crush cage - or had them ripped out so the farmer didn’t get hurt. Some had no claws, to save their tormentors from a scratch. In some cases paws are chopped off to save the trouble of trying to remove each claw. Despite being so disfigured at the hands of humans, several of them immediately came right up to the fence to say hello and sat down to watch us.
On to the blind enclosure where bears who had lost their sight because of severe nutritional deficiencies, infection and complications, quietly dozed.
Enjoying a day in the hammock
We stopped at the Graveyard and spent some time in silence, Jill remembering many of her friends who she saved, loved and lost again.
A quiet time of reflection with Jill in the graveyard
A last visit with Assisi who was in great spirits and once again endowed us with his beautiful smile. I look forward to updates on his continuing recovery and the photo of him finally walking on grass for the first time in his life.
Liane hands to Jill the cheque to help pay for Assisi's care
Jill is an inspiration. She started with nothing except a promise to a bear she met in a bear bile farm in 1993. Since then she has achieved so much and will go on fighting for the freedom of these bears until every cage is open and every bear bile farm is destroyed.
An amazing woman and an amazing day. Thank you, Jill.
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