About 175 Asiatic black bears live at the Moon Bear Rescue
Center in Longqiao, Sichuan, near Chengdu, the provincial capital.
For that, they have Jill Robinson to thank.
Robinson, 48, has been working for 14 years to help Asiatic black
bears (Ursus thibetanus), also known as moon bears because of the
gold crescent-shaped patch on the fur of their chests, to escape
the bear farms in China where bile was extracted from them for use
in medical treatments.
Robinson now lives in Hong Kong, where she raises funds for the
center. But it was a visit to one of the bear farms as a consultant
for the International Fund for Animal Welfare in 1993 that changed
her life.
Robinson told Impact Press four years ago that one less agitated
bear in a small cage stretched its paw toward her. Without
thinking, she reached out and held it for several moments, feeling
the large paw rhythmically squeezing her fingers.
"I truly believe this bear reached out to me for a purpose,"
Robinson was quoted as saying. "It's a moment I will never
forget."
Founded by Robinson, the Moon Bear Rescue Center was set up in
Longqiao in 2000, the year after the Animals Asia Foundation signed
an agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association and
the Sichuan Forestry Department to eliminate bear farming in
China.
The moon bear is one of only eight bear species in the world and
one of the five listed as endangered, with just a few thousand
remaining in China.
Today visitors to the rescue center are impressed by a graveyard
with 43 tombs in one corner.
"Whenever a bear dies in the center, the staff hold a memorial
before cremating and burying them in the graveyard," Wu Jianguo,
one of the bear keepers, told China Daily.
"I've participated in a dozen ceremonies since I began working
at the center in late 2002."
Participants in the ceremony pray for the deceased bear and sing
its praises before cremating it with its favorite food and
toys.
According to Wu, one reason for cremating the bears is to ensure
that no part of them will be used for food or medicine. "For
example, Chinese have long believed that bears' paws are tonics,"
he said.
Also, bile used to be extracted from the bears for centuries,
but now scientists have developed herbal and synthetic
alternatives.
Since the center's founding, progress has been remarkable.
Relying solely on donations, the 13-hectare center with a staff of
140, most of them locals has rescued 218 bears from the bear
farms.
The bears live in spacious, nature enclosures, have cozy dens to
retire to at night and eat decent food. What is more important,
they are free from physical and mental pain of bile extraction.
According to Rainbow Zhu, public relations officer at the
center, an average of two foreign volunteers work there each
year.
Usually committing to a three-month stay, they not only have the
opportunity of working with a truly majestic endangered species,
but also immerse themselves into a completely different culture
thousands of miles from their homes.
(China Daily February 27, 2007)
