Project update - May 2006

Dear All,

Please excuse the length of this message but I thought you'd appreciate a rather more comprehensive update of what's been happening with the bears and rescue over the past few weeks.

As you'll recall, in December of last year, Members of the European Parliament; Neil Parish, Peter Skinner, Terry Wynn, David Martin, Robert Evans and Paolo Casaca succeeded in passing an official European Parliament Declaration which meant that 'Ending Bear Farming in China' is now official European Union Policy.

Following this announcement, Wang Wei, Deputy Director Wildlife Conservation, State Forestry Department, immediately held a press conference in Beijing challenging this Declaration and maintaining that the industry was now humane and that bear bile is still a necessary component of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

His statements were questioned in China - even to the extent that a website discussion forum was begun with people publicly rejecting his claim that bear farming was not cruel.

However, many bear farmers across the country subsequently believe that as a result of these statements they are now in a stronger position and are holding on to their bears in the hope that the industry will recover and grow. When given the opportunity to close down their farms they demanded outrageous amounts of compensation and refused to give up their licenses.

Securing these licenses (as we have in the past) is fundamental to the total closure of these farms. Without the licenses we would simply be giving the farmers the means to maintain and expand their farm, allowing them to remain legally open and even purchase new bears. Therefore, in order to prevent this situation, we have refused their current demands.

For those who understandably question why our Government partners are not playing a more forceful role - the answer is that only a few bear farms are now considered to be "illegal", as most of them are licensed or have joined up with other licensed bear farms. The whole industry is in disarray but, if we openly challenge the Government at this time, we could lose some strong allies who have remained on side over the last few years.

We continue to negotiate for the full and final closure of the farms. We have been holding endless meetings in China which saw positive news last week when our Government partners, the Sichuan Forestry Department, promised that they would help us reach the half-way mark of 250 bears (under our Agreement to rescue 500 bears), "by the end of the year".

One government official specifically advised us not to pay the higher compensation being requested by the farmers - observing rightly that this would start a dangerous precedent - and adding that he would like to see bear farming ended overnight.

The government understand our bottom line - which is not to pay more compensation than the market rate for these bears and to secure the original license as before - and we remain willing to compensate the farmers at a fair rate, thus offering them a new livelihood and helping to prevent the bears being sold onto the black market for their gall bladders, meat and paws.

More good news came from several members of the National People's Congress who visited our sanctuary this month, and offered serious help to end bear farming by the 2008 Olympic Games.

In addition to this, Neil Parish MEP (who helped push through the EU Declaration) also visited our Sanctuary last week together with members of the China Government Friendship Department. Mr. Parish advised us that his meeting in Beijing with Mr. Zuo Rong Sheng, the State Forestry Director of Wildlife Conservation, saw Mr. Zuo confirming specifically that it was still China's intention to end bear farming - which is what the Government have consistently told us in the past.

Interestingly, Mr. Zuo is Wang Wei's superior and we are now endeavouring to hold urgent meetings with him in Beijing. We believe that once his statement is reinforced and made public once again, the farmers will realise that their greed is futile and we will be in a stronger position to negotiate for the closure of more farms.

Just next door, Vietnam is moving at a fast pace on this issue and we have now pledged to start rescuing 50 of our promised 200 bears by October of this year. The Government in Hanoi are pushing us to make this happen and this is a significant message to the world that they are serious in adhering to their legislation and promise that bear farming is now illegal in Vietnam. It is also obviously another strong push for China to do the same.

Vital as the rescues are, and frustrating as it is that our latest rescue is being delayed, our investigations, research and educational projects are also fundamental to our mission of ending bear farming in China.

Our investigations show that there are serious cracks in the industry in relation to both conservation and welfare concerns and that it can never be promoted as humane.

Our research, coupled with our veterinary findings during surgery on rescued bears, is proving the horrific impacts of crude bear bile extraction techniques and the damage and death it causes to the bears.

Education is also a vital part of our work to end bear farming. Our Sanctuary continues to grow, seeing thousands of new visitors each year pledging their voices and support.. The escalating help from celebrities, Chinese doctors, the media - and, importantly, from new Chinese Government Departments - allows us to continue gathering crucial information and use it to accelerate our message and give the bears a stronger voice than they've ever had before.

With the Beijing Olympics looming ahead in 2008, this is an important period for us all. The Government's commitment to the "Green Olympics" embraces "harmony and unity between mankind and nature" and is a message that gives us a perfect opportunity to juxtapose this statement against the plight of 7,000 caged and suffering bears.

Finally, some good news to end.............whilst waiting for the closure of more farms this month; we were contacted by the Government requesting our help to rescue 7 miserable zoo bears that would undoubtedly have ended up on a farm if we hadn't intervened. All from a defunct zoo facility, one of the bears had already previously been farmed and still had the dirty metal catheter embedded crudely into her abdomen. "Angel" is now doing well having received major surgery to remove the catheter and repair her damaged abdomen by Dr. Gail Cochrane and our brilliant veterinary team. All other bears - including a Sun Bear and an 18 month old cub called Peanut - are expected to survive. (We will be sending out a detailed update about these 7 new arrivals in the next couple of days.)

With these seven we now have now rescued 205 bears and have 169 beautiful bears living on site; bears that thrill and inspire all who see them. It is now incredibly important that we fast track the building of the public area of the sanctuary, so that more and more Chinese people can visit and appreciate the beauty of our rescued Moon Bears.

Our Moon Bear Rescue Centre is a first for China and is devoted to promoting and developing the concept of animal welfare on a grand scale. We have a fantastic opportunity to let the bears speak for themselves and to educate a huge audience about how cruel and unnecessary bear farming is. Tens of thousands of tourists already flock to Chengdu to see the pandas at the Giant Panda Breeding Centre and these same tourists will be able to come and meet the Moon Bears too. This is where your help right now is crucial, because more than ever, we need to raise funds to make this happen - to make our Sanctuary a centre of excellence and a beacon of hope for bear farming to end.

With grateful thanks, as ever, for your faith and support and with warm wishes from all in the Animals Asia team, Jill

Jill Robinson MBE
Founder & CEO
Animals Asia Foundation

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