How It All Began

In 1993, Animals Asia Founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE, walked onto a bear bile farm in China: this was her horrified reaction at what she saw:


Jill was witnessing Asiatic Black Bears (also known as Moon Bears because of the yellow crescent of fur splashed on their chests) incarcerated in tiny wire cages, with rusting metal catheters implanted in their abdomens through which bile was being extracted for use in Traditional Medicine. Medicine that, she later discovered is completely replaceable by cheaper herbs and synthetics.

Jill began tireless work in China , resolutely building relationships and negotiating with government departments to bring an end to this cruel practice.

The hard work paid off! In July 2000, Animals Asia signed a landmark agreement with the Chinese Authorities to rescue 500 suffering Moon Bears in Sichuan Province , to work towards the future elimination of bear farming in China and to promote the herbal alternatives to bear bile. This historic agreement was the first accord between the Chinese Government and any outside animal welfare organization.

The China Bear Rescue Is Underway!
Since October 2000, over 40 bear farms have been closed down by the Government and over 193 bears released into the care of Animals Asia at our Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Sichuan . The bears arrive in the most shocking condition - bone thin, desperately ill and terrified, but with tender loving care and intensive veterinary attention the vast majority of them recover!

The rehabilitation of the bears takes many months. Sadly, they cannot be released into the wild, many are defenceless and disabled, bred in captivity or snared in the wild as cubs and do not have the necessary survival skills. Thus Animals Asia is constructing a permanent sanctuary, in the midst of a beautiful bamboo forest where these bears can live their lives free of pain and fear. The sanctuary and its accompanying Education Village are keystones to our work of change through education. Already our China Bear Rescue is advancing the concept of animal welfare within China on a grand scale...

The bears and Animals Asia need you to help us make a difference!

Bear farming was virtually unknown in the West and it was only when I heard rumours of a bear farm operation across the border in southern China , that I joined a tour group from Hong Kong to witness the practice at first hand.

While the bear farmer and his wife proudly demonstrated their bile preparations, I stole away from the group and found some stairs leading to a room below. As my eyes became accustomed to the darkness, it was as if a horror story was unfolding itself frame by frame. Row after row of tiny wire cages held living, breathing bears as prisoners - bears, I was later to discover, which had spent 13 years of their life behind bars. Resembling victims of medieval torture, these pitiful animals turned around to reveal infected, gaping wounds in their stomachs, from which protruded rusting, metal catheters.

From that moment, negotiations with the Chinese government began and I found myself in the middle of a complex, emotional issue which, not only concerned the welfare of the bears but, surprisingly that of the people who raised them. As meetings with officials and practitioners and consumers of Traditional Medicine took place, a greater understanding was evolving on both sides, with growing recognition that, although bear bile had held a significant place in Chinese medicine, there was no doubt that it could now easily, and cheaply, be replaced with herbs.