I'll pass the blog over to Tuan who narrates the rescue and sadly references the fact that the cubs, nicknamed Lai Chau and Sin Ho were suspiciously close to the Chinese border. How many cubs weren't so lucky as these two....?
Congratulations to Tuan and team - and welcome home our new little
family members.
Now over to Tuan:
On Thursday 20/9/2012 we left for Lai Chau to rescue 2 moon bear cubs. Lai Chau is approximately 450km North West of Hanoi. It’s a frontier province sharing much of its border with China. According to Lai Chau Forest Protection Department, on the 2/9/2012 the local police in Than Uyen District in Lai Chau Province spotted a suspicious motorbike with 2 men carrying a cane basket in a remote village. They stopped the bike and found 2 cubs in the basket. The men were arrested, and told the police that they had bought the cubs for 1,500 USD and were going to resell them to an unknown buyer from Lao Cai (the bordering province). It is likely that the cubs were on their way to a bear farm in China owing to the close proximity of Lao Cai to China.
The definite age of the cubs is unknown. They weigh approximately 12kg and 9kg, and are both male. Lai Chau FPD contacted us as soon as they were asked by the local police to take over the keeping of the cubs. We sent them our "cub feeding guide" and, because of the early intervention and good effort by Lai Chau FPD in looking after the cubs, both are doing very well and looking healthy.
It took us, in total, almost 12hrs to get back to Tam Dao because of the terrible roads damaged by recent flooding. Lai Chau FPD was very supportive which made the rescue so much easier. Chien looked after the cubs very well, we fed them 4 times a day and made frequent stops because the roads were so bumpy. Our external affairs officer, The, was very good in dealing with Lai Chau FPD and the local police on the way back, as we were stopped 4 times either by the police or local FPD after tip offs by locals who saw the cubs on the road.
See our Rescue Diary for an update on how the cubs are doing at the sanctuary.
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Just recently we were lucky enough to host Asia singer, actress, celebrity, and all round wonderful woman, Karen Mok on yet another visit to our bear sanctuary in Chengdu.
Superstar Karen (often referred to as "the Madonna of Asia”) called in to see our staff and bears and, of course, to say a warm hello to her own rescued bear, Bao Be. Here she Karen with the team, fourth from the left at the back.
According to everyone, Karen was lovely as ever, and I was sorry to have missed her this time - especially as she spent so long admiring Bao Be and, together with Bear Manager Sofie, feeding him treats of dried fruit and cream cheese.
Such treats form part of his enrichment diet and it was clear that he was having a marvellous time being thoroughly spoiled - particularly at one point, according to Sofie, when he very kindly thanked Karen by burping twice in her face,
After forgiving him for his appalling manners, Karen also met Jingle, Bao Be's best friend and seemed sad about Jingle's missing paw, which had probably seen her caught in the wild in a snare or leg-hold trap, before being cruelly caged on a farm. Luckily for Jingle she must have somehow escaped, as we rescued her from farmland, 9 metres up a tree!
As ever, Karen was interested in the whole running of the centre, and said a special thank you to our fabulous bear workers who take care of Bao Be, JIngle and friends. Obviously a cat lover too, she spent a lot of time talking with one of our 22 rescued cats on site - and kindly posed for some pictures with our companion animal education posters, to help us spread the word that dogs and cats are our friends, not food.
With special thanks to Lucky, Susan and Star for all their organisation and help during Karen's visit - and Karen, thank you for popping by, and we hope to welcome you again soon!
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We had such a nice treat at our bear sanctuary in Chengdu recently when Ed Young and his daughter Ananda stayed with us on site.
Ed is already famous for his incredible illustrations in the book "Moon Bear" written by Brenda Guiberson, and published by Henry Holt press, which shows how luckier bears go about their business in the wild and enjoy everything there is to enjoy about life that is truly free.
Ed is a remarkable man. His illustrations not only show the bears but, if you look closely at some of the crescent markings on their chests, you can make out the silhouettes of some members of his family.
In an example too strange to be coincidence, Ed has also had the bears close to his heart for his entire life. As a child, he was originally given a wooden moon bear by his mother when they lived in Shanghai, which he then took with him when he moved to New York. The bear is now over 100 years old, and when we first met there a couple of years ago as the book was being produced, he asked if I would take his moon bear "home" back to China, which of course I was thrilled to do.
Now safely in Chengdu and part of our ursine family, the bear called Yuan Yuan, was taken to the press conference where Ed charmed the media with how his story has come full circle.
The press conference was held at Sisyphe Books - established in 1993, and the most famous book store in Chengdu with branches across the country. The well known children's Reading Promoter, Mr Ajia attended the event and a kind translator who translated Ed's "Moon Bear" book into Chinese very generously gave the fee he was paid to Animals Asia.
Ed also attended a bear's health check where he saw and heard the reality of how much bear farming hurts the bears and, during the press conference, he spoke so movingly about the issue and why he believes that everyone should stand behind those in China in reaching out and freeing the bears from their torture.
Special thanks to our own Susan Zhang for working so hard to make the press conference such a success, and thank you again Ed, so lovely to see you and Ananda again, and please come back very soon.
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Some pictures are just too good to file away - and this most beautiful photo of glorious Banjo, taken recently by our very own Star in Chengdu, was just too perfect not to share.
Enjoy a happy, healthy Banjo, chilling as only bears know how.
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Oh how pea green am I to have missed a truly phenomenal event recently in the UK. Our wonderful supporter Richard Symonds who, together with Suzie Marsh, held "Moonstruck" in London earlier this year exhibiting the most amazing prints and sculptures of our beautiful bears – and donating 50 per cent of the proceeds to Animals Asia.
Now Rich has kindly helped with another recent event, and also references our fabulous supporters Oliver and Barbara (Babs) who, coincidentally have just been on site with us in Chengdu, enjoying a couple of days of bear therapy with Oliver, Jasper and the other bears, and also coming along on one of our Dr Dog visits at a home for the elderly.
More on that soon, but for now, I'm passing the blog over to Rich, who summarises why the day was such a roaring success.
"When Kay from Animals Asia UK asked if I would like to display a few drawings and prints on the Animals Asia stand alongside some of Suzie Marsh's sculptures at an event called "Wildlife Rocks" at Guildford Cathedral, well it didn't take much to convince me! Not only was it just a few miles from where I live, but it was being hosted by one of my all-time musical heroes and great animal ambassador too, Brian May from the legendary rock band, Queen!
Having set up the Animals Asia stand outside with another legend of the Animals Asia support team, Babs, it wasn't long before Brian May and singer Kerry Ellis made their way over to our stand to have a look and a chat.
In no time at all, our conversation turned to dear Oliver bear who is was the subject of one of my limited edition prints on display. Both Brian and Kerry seemed visibly moved by Oliver's story and by all the other stoic bears' stories too.
It was the perfect opportunity to get a photo with them both and for them to very kindly sign another tiger print that was on display. The event saw many of the big charities attending and was followed by music from local bands and of course Brian and Kerry. Between the music, were talks by David Shepherd of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and Will Travers of the Born Free Foundation, along with the head CEO of the RSPCA.
We were also joined by Animals Asia supporters John, Anna and Khalil, and another long-term super supporter Ollie Lodge, who I believe took the opportunity to have a rare Queen LP signed!
A great day in the sunshine with like-minded people and flying the flag for Animals Asia – just perfect!"
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